Backdraft
by Jacklyn Frost
Summary: To others they have many names. Saviors, angels, guardians...Firefighters. Join Yang and Unit 5 as they battle house fires, rescue people trapped in car accidents, and perhaps more importantly, get to the bottom of a more serious threat than anything they have faced before...
1. Prologue

**Backdraft**

Prologue

* * *

"Can't catch me! I'm too fast!" A young brunette with red pajamas on was running around a small grass yard in front of her house.

"Oh yeah? I'm fast too!" Yang replied. She charged after her sister, Ruby, who at 6, was two years younger than her.

Try as she could, Ruby was too quick for Yang to catch up to her. Yang collapsed on the ground eventually and panted. "Why are you so fast?"

Ruby ran back over and flopped over Yang's stomach, ignoring Yang's "oomph". "Wellll I run like the wind, Yangy! I'm super fast! Vroom vroom!"

Yang grinned, one of her front teeth missing with the new one barely poking up. "Yeah well I'm super strong!"

The two young kids wrestled on the grass for a bit before a brown-haired woman stepped onto the porch and smiled at their antics. "Okay, kids, time for bed! And quit wrestling in your pajamas; you'll end up with grass in your bed."

Both Yang and Ruby tried for more time to be outside, but Summer shook her head. "It's getting late, girls. Besides; if we want to head to the park tomorrow you got to rest up and store energy!"

That got them moving, and Ruby dashed into the house with Yang right behind her. Ruby brushed her teeth first, with Summer helping. Summer smiled at Yang once they were done. "You're getting to be a big girl; do you think you can brush your teeth on your own while I tuck Ruby in? I'll be to your room right after so I can tuck you in too."

Yang grinned wide "Okay mom!"

* * *

Yang quickly brushed her teeth, and in her hurry to put her toothbrush back, she knocked over the cinnamon-scented candle that was by the sink. It fell, but Yang didn't notice. Her young mind didn't hear the sound, or notice how the area where it fell was lit up in an orange glow.

She put back her toothbrush and hurried upstairs to crawl in bed. Summer came up a few minutes later and smiled at Yang all snuggled in bed. "Hey, little dragon." She said. Yang smiled. "I brushed my teeth all by myself! I didn't even knock the toothpaste off the sink again!"

Summer chuckled at how adorable the small blonde was being. "I'm proud of you, Yang. Now, your father should be back tomorrow from work; so just get some sleep and then you can tell him all about your teeth-brushing experience, okay?"

Yang nodded. "Okay mom. Goodnight!"

Summer tucked Yang in and gently kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, little dragon."

Summer stood up and stopped at the doorway to smile at Yang, who was already fast asleep. Summer got an odd feeling that something was wrong, but she shook it off and shut the light off; gently closing the door. She headed to her bedroom and climbed in the covers, exhausted from dealing with two little rambunctious kids all day. She quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Summer woke to the smell of smoke and an odd crackling sound. She looked around her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her room looked okay… The brown-haired woman got up and opened her bedroom door. The sight was horrible. The whole kitchen and living room was on fire; the source of the fire looking like it was coming from the bathroom. Summer was suddenly very wide awake, and she rushed towards Ruby's room.

She burst into the room and quickly shook the small child awake. "Ruby, Ruby wake up!"

Ruby groaned and rolled over. "Mommy just let me sleep…"

Summer shook her harder. "No Ruby, the house is on fire!"

That got Ruby up in a hurry, and she looked around fearfully. Smoke was starting to spread around above her, and she could hear the fire pick up its intensity. She clung to her mother's leg. "Mommy I'm scared…" She started to tear up.

Summer looked at her. "Rose, it's going to be okay. We just have to get Yang and get out of the house, okay? Come on. Don't be scared." She picked up Ruby and headed to the door. She grabbed the doorknob to open it, but jerked back, hissing in pain. "Ouch!"

Ruby looked more scared than before. "Mom what is it?"

Summer looked under the door and saw an orange glare. It would not be safe to open the door. She looked around the room and spotted the window.

"Quick, Ruby, the window!" Summer set Ruby down and hurried over to the window and opened it. Or tried to.

The window was stuck, and only opened about 3 inches, not nearly enough to fit Ruby through. And the window itself was too small to fit Summer through, but Ruby could. Summer was just picking up an object to break the window, when Ruby started coughing. Summer looked over at Ruby, and just then noticed how bad the smoke was getting. Instead of the ceiling being covered in smoke, now the smoke was so thick, and was reaching Summer's head. How had it gotten this bad this fast?

Summer coughed too, also noticing that breathing was getting more difficult. "Hey, Rose it'll be okay." He voice was growing hoarse, and she winced. Her head was starting to hurt, but she moved over to Ruby and sat down on the floor where it was easier to breathe. "Come here, little rose." Ruby slowly crawled into Summer's lap and hugged her close. "Mommy I'm scared…and I'm getting fuzzies in my eyes...it's hard to see and breathe…"

Summer just closed her eyes and tried not to panic. Okay. The window was too small to fit herself through, but if she could lower Ruby to the ground with sheets or something, Ruby might make it…

But Yang! Summer's eyes widened. How could she forget?! She looked at the door, which was slowly starting to smoke, like the flames outside were finally starting to set the wood on fire. There was no way she could open the door without the flames burning her and Ruby…she'd have to try her best to get Ruby out. She glanced down at Ruby, and saw that Ruby's skin was starting to turn a cherry red, and her breathing was slower than normal.

"RUBY!" No response. Summer quickly laid Ruby down on her back, and knelt on the floor, trying to figure out what was wrong with Ruby. Just then, the door burst inwards, and the window that Summer was going to break shattered. The real problem was the flames rolling into the room with an immense heat. Summer thought she had moved far enough out of the way, but as she was still kneeling, her legs were caught in the rush of fire. Cursing and patting out the fire, Summer quickly realized her dexterity was failing her. As was her strength. She could barely scoot her and Ruby against the far wall; away from the flames that scorched everything in its path. The wall with the window was now covered in flames, and Summer gulped. No escape. She looked back at Ruby, whose breathing was slowing. She looked down at her legs, which were burnt so badly, she had to fight a sudden wave of nausea. She quickly looked away, and took a deep breath, only to start having a coughing fit. _This is it; the end._

The smoke was filling the room up so much by now, that Summer could hardly see or breathe. She took one long last look at Ruby, before huddling over her protectively. She laid there like that until she passed out. Both Ruby and Summer were gone by the time the flames got to them.

* * *

Yang was woken up by the smoke filling her room. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and frowned. "Mom?" She quickly hopped out of bed and opened her door, so she could head downstairs and look for Summer and Ruby. But when she opened the door, she was greeted by the stairway completely engulfed in flames. She screamed, and looked around her room for a way to get away from the fire that was slowly moving towards her. She ran towards her window, but her dresser was in the way. Yang dragged a chair over to the dresser and climbed on top of it. Try as she might to open the window, it stayed securely shut. Yang glanced back and saw that the flames were by her door now. She cried, the tears leaving clear trails on her soot-covered face.

"MOM!"

She crawled off the dresser and hid in the back of her closet, crying and shouting for her mother.

The flames quickly started spreading throughout her room, and the heat was picking up in intensity. Yang started coughing, but was too young and too hysterical to think of covering her face.

"MOM! RUBY! HELP!"

She closed her eyes so she wouldn't see the flames creeping ever closer to where she was huddled in the back of the closet, but she could still hear the flames cracking, burning everything it touched…until suddenly, there was no sound.

Yang glanced up and gasped. Summer and Ruby were standing in the flames, and they looked at her with a longing. "Mom? Ruby?" They looked like her mother and sister, but flames were wrapping around them, not like it was burning them, but like the flames were part of them. Ruby came up to Yang, and held out a fiery hand. "Come on, Yangy." Yang shrank back from her hand. "But, but you're burning!"

Summer shook her head. "Come on, little dragon, we have to get you downstairs and outside where it's safe. Don't worry, the flames will keep you safe from now on."

Yang frowned, but her mother had never lied to her before, so she hesitatingly took Ruby's hand. As soon as the flames touched Yang, instead of burning her like she expected, they danced around her hand before coating her whole body in comforting warmth that reminded her of the hugs Ruby and Summer would give her.

Yang looked up at them in wonder. "Did I die?" Summer laughed softly and began leading them downstairs. "No, little dragon, you didn't die."

Ruby giggled. "This is fun, Yangy!" She swung their interlocked hands and grinned.

Yang couldn't help but smile too at Ruby's infectious grin.

Summer then stopped in the living room and pointed at the front door. "Go on, Yang, you have to get outside."

Yang frowned. "But, but can't you come with me?" Summer shook her head.

"No, little dragon. I have to go now, and Ruby is coming with me. But remember that wherever the flame is; there we will be also."

Ruby looked sad all of a sudden, but she smiled. "Bye, Yangy…"

Ruby and Summer started to look dimmer, and they almost appeared see-through. Yang shook her head violently. "No, mom! Ruby!" Ruby's hand slipped out of Yang's grasp, and Yang cried out "RUBY!"

* * *

"Ruby!" Yang jerked awake, sitting upright on her bed.

She was sweating and breathing heavily. Yang sighed, covering her face with her hands. She was still in the fire station, where she had fallen asleep.

"Stupid dreams…" Yang glanced at the clock. The bright red digital display read 2:32 in the morning. Yang sighed and made her way to the bathroom.

She took in her scraggly appearance in the mirror; her long blonde hair a tangled mess and her lilac eyes still trying to wake up.

Yang splashed cold water on her face and took a deep breath.

She glanced down at her right forearm, where a burn mark covered about two inches; the flesh was darker than the rest of her arm, and had little circle marks on it; typical with burn scars.

Yang shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the nightmare and memories. "Why do I always dream about that night…?"

Just then, Yang's radio on the bedside table beeped long twice, then once short (the fire station's call sign), crackles, and the dispatcher is heard through it; speaking urgently:

"Can Unit 5 please respond immediately to a near fully engulfed house on 22nd street; we have had many calls for this fire; it looks like it's something. It's spreading rapidly. Repeat, Unit 5 to 22nd street for house fire. It's the large white mansion. Responders needed immediately."

Yang groaned but quickly moved out of the bathroom and got dressed in her firefighter clothes that usually went underneath the actual fire-suit. She snatched up the radio and put on her shoes with one hand while pressing the speak button. "This is Xiao Long, Unit 5, I'm at the station; will be arriving at the scene in around 7 minutes, over." She knew it would be around 7 minutes because one, she knew the area and knew 22nd street was close by, and two and perhaps most importantly; Nora was driving. At two in the morning. They'd get there in record time.

Yang stuck the radio onto her belt that she had hastily put on and grabbed her helmet sitting by the small desk in her appointed room. Rushing out; she met up with Pyrrha Nikos, one of the best firefighters in the area, who also was Unit 5's captain.

She was tall and lean, but muscled. (Yang knew this when they would spar every once in a while) Her hair was a deep red color, and she was a bit darker skinned. Pyrrha said she had some ancestry with Amazonians, which was seriously cool to Yang. She also had the most intense emerald eyes Yang had ever seen.

She had quite a reputation for saving multiple lives and homes; along with the many animals she would go out of her way to rescue. All in all a very respectable and valued fire captain with a soft heart. But right now, her eyebrows were scrunched together as she focused.

"This looks bad, Yang. Head to the truck; Jaune is grabbing his gear and should be there soon." She hurriedly said.

Yang nodded in response and stepped into her turnout gear; quickly pulling them up and putting on the matching coat. Grabbing gloves and slamming her helmet onto her head; Yang climbed into Truck 7's passenger seat and cranked the engine for Nora. (It was faster that way, they learned)

Pyrrha climbed into the back with Jaune, as Nora hopped into the driver's seat and stepped on the gas.

"Let's roll, team!" Nora said and they were out and maneuvering around the streets of Vale; heading towards the bright light illuminating the sky.

Yang had memorized the streets of Vale a long time ago, and in times like these it was super helpful to know where you were going; without the cursed GPS spouting things out when you were trying to talk to dispatch.

Speak of the devil… The radio in the truck crackled to life and they heard the dispatcher's voice over the radio. "Unit 5, are you close? The house is said to be almost fully engulfed."

Yang felt a twinge of sadness. A fully engulfed house wasn't something that could be repaired. She picked up the radio and pressed the talk button. "Roger, dispatch, Xiao Long, Unit 5, we are about a block away; standby."

The fire engine quickly rolled to a stop in front of the house, and Yang, Pyrrha and Jaune all got out and got their SCBA's on. (Self-Contained-Breathing-Apparatus, the ones with the tanks on their back and the mask for safe breathing)

They all stopped to take a look at the nightmarish-looking house with ungodly fire reaching into the heavens; black smoke billowing up and into the air; coating the air with ash and making it hard to breathe even from a safe distance.

It had flames coming out of every window, even the windows at the top of the five-story mansion.

The color of the building was long covered by intense flames and scorch marks.

Nora moved the truck in a good position, while Jaune and Yang connected the fire hose to a fire hydrant just across the street. Police officers helped by putting up road blocks so nobody would run over the hose.

Pyrrha took out her radio. "Unit 5 captain Nikos here, we are at scene, ready to keep house contained. Not sure if we can stop the fire; the house looks gone."

Dispatch replied on the radio, but a loud shouting from the safe zone distracted Pyrrha.

A deputy was holding back a yelling white haired woman, who was reaching towards the house and crying out. "Snowflake!" The woman sobbed into the police officers arms, and Pyrrha quickly walked over. The deputy shook his head. "Miss Schnee the house isn't safe to go in; it could collapse any minute now." This just made the woman cry louder, and try to wiggle under the rope. Pyrrha walked up and looked at her, gently placing a hand on her arm. "Miss Schnee, we are going to try our best to get everyone to safety; who is Snowflake?"

The woman, dressed only in a nightgown, quickly looked up. "She's just a child; on the second floor please hurry!"

Pyrrha quickly ran over to Yang, who was just done attaching the safety rope to her turnout gear. "Yang we got a kid still inside; second floor." Yang ignored the rest of what Pyrrha was saying. These were the times when she felt most at peace; when she felt like she was doing what she was meant to do. The times when she could use her powers to save people that otherwise wouldn't be alive.

Yang grabbed a fire ax and rushed over to the doorway, quickly ducking inside.

There was someone inside this building and Yang would save her if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

 **A/N: So…I know I have some other stories I could be working on, but this AU idea I got has been nagging at me for a while, and since I just finished Forgotten Plans, I decided I would start writing this one, and it's pretty cool; I think you will enjoy it a lot**

 **Snowflake's character is based off of Arieko's Snowflake character he made, so go check out my bro; he has awesome stories and his story Snowflake is adorable so go give it a read! I did not come up with Snowflake's character so don't go using it just cause; lol I got permission to use her.**

 **But PLEASE tell me what you think of this idea or anything you think would be cool to put in it and stuff. Ideas are welcome, you wonderful readers. :) I'm pretty nice, so don't feel nervous to send me a PM or a review with questions; I shall get back to you!**

 **Oh and I am not a firefighter so if I get some stuff weird…I'm sorry, feel free to point it out and I can fix it and whatnot. Thanks a bunches of roses!**

 **I shall see you guys later, Peace! Jacki** **e out!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Backdraft**

 _Chapter 1_

* * *

"It was like walking into the mouth of a volcano. Fire coated everything in Yang's sight, and she could tell that the fire was quickly going to get worse. The living room to her right was just a large fireplace now; flames completely covering everything. The stairway ahead looked somewhat scorched but mostly safe, so Yang darted up the stairs. "Second floor, second floor" Yang repeated as a mantra to herself. She lifted up her mask, and even though she was immune to fire, the sheer intensity of the heat stunned her for a few seconds. Seconds she didn't have. "Snowflake!" _'At least, that's what I think her name is...'_ Yang opened the door to her right and one look in the room told her that nobody was in it. Or if they were it was no use looking further. Just then, Yang heard something. A voice. A scream. "Snowflake!" Yang heard the voice again, shouting "Mom!" For a brief few seconds, Yang had a flashback to a fire when she was screaming for her mom.

With renewed vigor, Yang opened the door to the left and saw a kid crouching in the corner. Her white hair was covered with soot, and she was coughing. At the sight of Yang, she cowered further back, screaming. Yang approached her slowly, setting down her ax. "Hey, hey it's okay! I'm Yang and I'm here to get you to your mother, okay? But we have to go soon; the house is fragile right now."

If there was one thing Yang had learned, it was to try and not scare children. If a kid got frightened they might try to run away, and that was not safe and could result in injury or death. And no deaths would happen on Yang's watch. Ever. Yang grinned her trademark grin and held out her open gloved hand. "Come on, Snowflake." Snowflake reached out and took Yang's hand, and Yang sighed slightly with relief. Until all hell broke loose. Yang had been warned of a backdraft, and had taken dozens of training exercises to learn how to avoid them. But in her concentrating on Snowflake, she forgot to make sure to break the window to let in oxygen. In turn, a window or something somewhere broke, and the sudden inflow of oxygen caused the fire to suddenly ramp up and burn everywhere. Yang didn't even think about what to do. She ripped off her turnout coat, wrapped Snowflake in it, and ran towards the stairs. The last thing Yang wanted was to be caught upstairs. She took about five steps on the stairs before they dropped away from her.

Yang twisted her body in mid-fall, wrapped her arms around Snowflake and crashed to the bottom, using her body to cushion the fall for Snowflake. "Ow…" Her powers were over fire, not over falling down stairs. _'That's going to leave a mark…'_ Yang could feel the fire get hotter, so she tried to focus on her powers. She could see a gentle flame surround Snowflake and herself, and she cooled off. It was odd, the thought wryly. Covered in fire yet feeling cool. Snowflake opened her eyes wide. "How…how…" Yang just blushed because for some reason, someone witnessing her use her fire powers made her nervous. Snowflake looked around at the fire that blew the door off its hinges. "Cool!" Yang might have tried to join her enthusiasm, but using her powers for not just herself but for another person too was draining her. She could feel herself get dizzy, and she stood up, pulling Snowflake to her feet and picking her up again. "Just a little bit further…" Yang slowly inched towards the door, her feet suddenly feeling as heavy as lead. She made it to the doorway and gently set Snowflake on her feet, who went running towards another white-haired woman, right before she passed out.

* * *

Weiss saw a shadowy figure in the doorway, and she held her breath. The figure made it into the doorway, and several firefighters rushed towards it, and suddenly Weiss could see a white-haired girl running towards her. "Mom!"

Weiss nearly broke down, but she managed to just start crying instead of fully breaking into a pile of tears. "Snow!"

Snowflake was wearing an oversized firefighters coat, and other than her face being covered in soot she looked just fine. Then Snowflake coughed. Medics from a nearby ambulance were suddenly right by Weiss. "Ma'am, I know you're happy to have your daughter back, but she might have lung problems from the smoke. It's standard procedure to take rescued people from fires to the hospital so they can look at her lungs. And maybe yours too just to be safe." The one who spoke was a young adult, with short light brown hair and green eyes. She seemed very eager to help.

Weiss nodded, feeling overwhelmed by everything that was going on. "All right...come on Snowflake…" Weiss glanced back and saw a blonde firefighter missing an overcoat being lifted onto a stretcher and rolled quickly to another ambulance. A voice brought Weiss's attention back to the situation at hand.

"In here, Ma'am."

Snowflake and Weiss shakily followed the young woman medic and her male partner, a tall male with a scar on his forehead and a military haircut. "Penny, make sure you strap them in safe." The woman, now known as Penny, smiled and nodded. "Of course, James, you worry too much. Don't worry; they will be safe."

James just nodded and got into the drivers seat. Penny helped Snowflake into the ambulance, and Weiss sat down into the seat next to Snow. They both buckled in, and Penny smiled at them. "So Snowflake; you ever ride in the back of an ambulance?" Snow silently shook her head. Penny smiled even wider. "Well now you will know what they are like!" Weiss appreciated the medic trying to calm down Snowflake, but she just wanted to get to the hospital already. It was a long ride.

* * *

Weiss paced up and down the hallway by the x-ray room. Because of the x-rays being somewhat bad if you weren't wearing lead protection, it was safer for her to be outside while they looked at Snowflakes chest. They already checked her blood and pulse, so this was the last thing left. Snowflake looked to be in near-perfect condition.

Weiss huffed. _"Taking forever…"_ Just as she was about to go and see what was taking so long, the door to the x-ray room opened and Snowflake ran out. Weiss opened her arms and Snowflake hugged her close. A door behind them opened, and Weiss heard and felt Snowflake gasp.

Suddenly, Snow was wiggling out of Weiss' arms and running past her.

"Oomph!"

Weiss stood up and turned around to see a tall blonde woman wearing a t-shirt and firefighting pants looking down at her legs, where Snowflake was tightly hugging her. Knowing Snowflake, she likely nearly tackled the woman over.

The woman chuckled and patted Snowflake's head. "How are you feeling, Little White?"

Snowflake looked up at the woman and smiled super wide. "You saved me! I am feeling great!"

The blonde woman smiled down at Snow. She had very short blonde hair, almost shaved on the sides with the top a bit longer. By the look of her toned arms it was obvious she did some form of working out. Weiss couldn't tell the color of her skin because she was covered in soot at the moment.

"Mommy look! This lady saved me from fire!" Snowflake let go of the woman's legs and kind of hopped in place.

Weiss smiled a bit and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet the woman who saved my daughter. I'm Weiss and this is Snowflake." Weiss nodded to Snow who was basically jumping she was so excited.

The woman looked up at her and shook her hand, and Weiss noted that her handshake was very gentle. But the first thing Weiss noticed was her eyes; they were an impossible lilac color.

The woman smiled. "I'm Yang. Just doing my job."

Weiss liked that she wasn't trying to make it seem like she was a hero or anything. Weiss was just about to thank her again for saving Snowflake when behind Yang a voice said: "Miss Xiao Long, I know you'd like to escape before we take a chest x-ray, but it really is important."

Yang looked slightly annoyed, but she smiled at Weiss and Snowflake. "I have to go now; but hey, take care, Little White." Snowflake suddenly stopped in place and got a crestfallen look on her face. "But…Yangy…I won't see you again?" Yang couldn't stand to look at the sad look on the adorable child's face, and so she shook her head. "I'll see you again; promise."

She nodded at Weiss. "Take care, and if there is anything you need let me know." She then walked down the hall and all but ran down the stairs. A short woman with brown hair streaked in very blonde, nearly white highlights in a doctor's coat ran after her. "Yang Xiao Long I swear to god you need to quit running away! They are just x-rays!"

Weiss couldn't help the smirk on her face.

The woman just sighed at the top of the stairs. "Every single time…"

* * *

Yang headed outside and as expected, there was Pyrrha waiting for her. What was not expected was Pyrrha's car. A very nice and shiny red 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. Yang whistled in awe at the car. "Damn, Pyrrha, where did you get this sexy beast?"

Pyrrha's emerald eyes sparkled, and she grinned. "Turns out winning in the last tournament I went to made my father so proud of me that he gave me his old car. Mom was dying to get rid of it too. Now get in; we have to get back to the station."

Yang climbed in and was just about to put her feet on the dash when Pyrrha spoke up, as if reading her mind. "If you put your dirty boots on my dash I swear to god you will walk all the way back."

Yang grinned. "Nice to see you too, Pie."

"Call me that again and you'll have 'Pie' kicking you out of the car."

Pyrrha was grinning now too, and they both were laughing as Pyrrha backed out of the parking spot and headed to the fire station.

* * *

"You're alive!" Yang laughed at Nora's remark as Pyrrha and Yang parked outside and walked up towards the open garage doors.

"Yeah; isn't she always?" Remarked Pyrrha.

Nora nodded. "This is true. But that backdraft was pretty intense! It blew the front door out! Nearly hit Jaune in the head."

Jaune was cleaning the floor by Engine 6, the water tinder Unit 6 used. He looked up and shrugged. "Yeah but it didn't so can we drop another one of my embarrassing moments?"

Nora grinned. "Sure! There are always plenty more!" Jaune facepalmed and groaned.

Yang shook her head. "You guys are too much. Hey did someone make any food?"

Yang was starving. Nora got a horrified look on her face before suddenly running into the back where the kitchen and dining room was. "My pancakesssss!"

Pyrrha sighed. "At least we are all firefighters; the fire couldn't be too bad." Yang laughed. "I'm going to head upstairs and get cleaned; save me pancakes from Nora, would you?"

"I don't know…that's a dangerous task…" Pyrrha whistled.

Yang glared. "I will sneak out and throw mud all over your car if you don't."

Pyrrha gasped. "You wouldn't dare!" She placed a hand on her heart and faked a pout. "And here I thought we were friends…"

Yang grinned. "We are and that's why I get to threaten you so." She headed upstairs and dropped her dirty clothes in the hamper before jumping into a hot shower.

Pyrrha saved her pancakes.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this second chapter! :D Snowflake, from Arieko's** _ **Snowflake!**_ **story is in here, so go give that a read if you think Snowflake is adorable, which she is.**

 **Thank you guys for following and favoriting and leaving reviews! I love knowing people like this story, and if you think of anything I could have done to make you like this better, send me a PM! I would love to talk to you readers and get your opinions and stuff.**

 **As for now, Peace! Jackie out!**


	3. Chapter 2

_**Backdraft Chapter 2**_

* * *

Yang was working on refilling some SCBA (Self-Contained-Breathing-Apparatus) tanks that had gotten low when she heard Coco and Nora walk around the corner. Coco was tall and thin with long brown hair that like right now, was usually up in a bun. The rest of Coco's unit was following them, Unit 6. Fox was a dark-skinned man of average height. He had dark brown hair and intense scars on his face. Yatsu was a giant. He was big and tall and looked like he could break bones as if they were sticks. Secret was however, he was as gentle as a giant. All of Unit 6 was wearing standard green fire pants with the white fire station T-shirt and boots. Except Coco's unit also had a badge and gun that they carried with them. Perks of being a police officer/fireman hybrid. Coco was usually calm and collected, but right now she looked visibly upset over something. "No, I'm serious. They wanted to kill her; I'm sure of it."

Yang looked up and scrunched her eyebrows. "Whoa, kill who? What's going on?"

Coco jumped, obviously not expecting Yang to be there. She quickly tried to recover. "Oh hey Yang. Nice work on rescuing that child from the fire a couple days ago. I am impressed."

Yang knew what a redirected conversation looked like, and this was definitely one. She lifted an eyebrow in suspicion. "Thanks…now, what's this about someone trying to kill someone?"

Coco's unit was the FIU, Fire Investigation Unit, and that basically meant that whenever there was a fire her unit would go and determine if it was started by accident or on purpose. And if she was talking about someone trying to kill someone else, it was important.

Coco sighed, and knew that trying to distract Yang was impossible. "Look, I don't know who exactly, but that fire you went in and rescued the kid from?" Yang nodded, urging her to continue. "Yeah, well, I am pretty darn sure it was arson."

Arson. A word no firefighter ever wants to hear. Nora was jumping up and down. "Yeah! Like in the movies, Coco is now going to search and find the bad guy…" She stopped and looked around the room, like the 'bad guy' would be in the station.

Okay, Yang took that back. Arson was a word _nearly_ every firefighter never wants to hear.

Yang frowned, visibly surprised. "Arson? Are you sure? How do you know?"

Coco sighed again. "Yang you know I'm not really supposed to even be telling you it _was_ arson in the first place."

Yang grinned. "Yeah. But since you did you might as well go ahead." Coco acknowledged her defeat.

"You win, Yang. So, while the fire was still getting started, we were able to determine that it was started on the far wall by the kitchen. Whoever started it made the stove basically explode, and that's pretty odd for just a standard house fire. Just by casual observation it looks like a gas leak, and that's what we thought at first too. But the gas lines look tampered with; I think someone purposely sabotaged the gas lines to cause gas buildup in the kitchen. One spark was all it took. Though I will say, the flames spread rather rapidly."

Yang crossed her arms in thought. "So, someone started the fire on purpose. Now we have to figure out if they meant it to just scare the Schnee's or…" She glanced at Coco and Coco winced.

"This is why I can't tell anyone, Yang! If word gets around that we know the fire was started on purpose then whoever did it will be even harder to catch. And if we figure out they did it on purpose…then they might do something bad."

"You mean you're not even going to tell Miss Schnee that her life is in danger?" Yang looked upset about this, and Coco understood, but still. There was protocol to follow and the more she did then the more of a chance they would have to catch whoever did it."

The rest of Coco's unit, Fox and Yatsu shared glances, but they kept silent. Nora was looking serious for once. And Coco just couldn't share anymore; she knew how Yang would get.

"Yang, there is a specific way to handle these things and if you just do whatever you think is best then someone like Miss Schnee could get hurt. It's best if you leave the rest to us, and when we think it's okay to tell people then we will. Our department is working on it as fast as they can."

Yang was always a doer. She hated doing nothing. But she also had to give Coco the benefit of the doubt. Coco was trained to do this; Yang was not. Coco had a badge and gun and could arrest people; Yang could not. Best to leave it in much more capable hands.

With an internal groan Yang nodded. "That makes sense…I won't go out of my way to tell people, but now that you told a certain someone, I think the whole station will know." Yang nodded her head at Nora. The red-haired woman blinked innocently. "What?"

* * *

So the first thing Nora did at dinner in the fire station was tell Unit 5 about Coco's thoughts.

"So like, Snow White might be in danger!"

Stunned silence. Pyrrha sighed and stared down at her plate in defeat. "You know, I think I gave up trying to have a normal meal ever since you threw a plate of spaghetti in Jaune's face last year."

Yang had to laugh at that. "Don't forget the Food Fight of Pizza." Jaune, however, groaned. "Don't remind me…I think I had pizza sauce on me for a week; no matter how much I showered."

"What's up, Pyrrha?" Nora asked.

Pyrrha was frowning, looking deep in thought. "So, why exactly was Unit 6 telling you this, Nora? I mean they train with us and stay here when they're on shift but still, they are an FIU Unit. They aren't supposed to tell anyone, if I'm not mistaken."

Nora suddenly looked very interested in her plate of food. "Must have slipped out at one point or something. Yang would know, huh Yang?"

Yang kicked Nora's shin under the table, trying and failing to make it discreet but not caring.

"Yeah _Nora_ and Coco were talking and I couldn't help but overhear."

Nora glared. "Yeah but you seemed _super_ into what we were talking about, so you interrupted."

"Yeah but _you_ were the one talking about it right where I was peacefully minding my own business doing work."

Nora glared at Yang, and Pyrrha just face-palmed. "Do you guys have to act like kids all the time?"

" _SHE STARTED IT!"_

* * *

Yang finished dinner rather fast that night. Pyrrha seemed glad to have Nora and Yang separated, and stayed behind to help Jaune clean up the kitchen. The fire station was well built, with the intention of people staying there for long periods of time on call. They had a kitchen, showers, a laundry room, and sleeping quarters for each person staying the night. Older stations had them all sleeping in one room, but Beacon's Fire Station was newly re-modeled and they made several upgrades.

The next day was Yang's day off, so if she just stayed on watch until midnight then she was home-free.

 _Sleep…I've missed you…_ Yang was working on the fire stations extra truck, Truck 7. It had a super long ladder that was used for places where they needed tall reach for fires and things. But right now, you couldn't extend the ladder from the ground controls.

So Yang was working on fixing that. She was in the bay, the large area where all the trucks park when not out on fires. The bay was always neat and tidy; Pyrrha and the other Captains made sure of it. Nobody liked having to sit through one of the fire station's chief lectures again. Chief Port knew how to make anything he talked about sound boring as hell. You had to be careful not to be sitting down when he started because then you might fall asleep and if you did then he would start all over again. He ruled by fear. The station was always spotless; 24/7.

So when Pyrrha walked into the bay and saw Truck 7 with parts on the floor and wiring everywhere, she was not happy.

"I swear to god I am not your parent so why are you leaving your sh-" A dull thump sounded from the far side of the truck and Pyrrha heard Yang's distinct voice go "OW!" before quietly mumbling not very nice things about the truck.

"I guess that explains why the truck is taken apart. You okay, Yang?" Pyrrha called.

Yang finished getting the panel off on the truck and sighed. "I'll live. Looks like the wiring here got disconnected because of bad connections. I'm going to change the wires here with the ones in the basket up top; I think a bad wire is the cause of this."

The blonde appeared in the far corner, rubbing her head from where she bumped it.

Pyrrha was just about to comment on that when the fire bell rang.

"Unit 5 this is Dispatch, we have a two vehicle collision on Highway 56, mile-marker 17; police are on scene and medics are on the way, but officers requested the metal cutter; one vehicle looks pretty smashed up and they may need assistance in getting victim out. Repeat; two vehicle collision on Highway 56 mile-marker 17; need metal cutters, please respond."

All joking gone, Pyrrha grabbed her radio that she always kept on her belt, like the rest of Unit 5, and keyed in.

"Dispatch this is Nikos, Unit 5 is getting geared up at the station; we'll be there in around 10-12 minutes with the metal cutters and vehicle gear."

Yang was already putting on her gear and getting truck 5 ready, starting it up and making sure they had the metal cutters on hand. Nora slid down the fire pole, already dressed in her turnout gear minus the helmet, while Jaune was running down the steps putting his jacket on.

Pyrrha had just grabbed her helmet and got in the back when everyone met at the truck and got in. Nora slapped her helmet on her head and shifted out of park right as everyone's door shut.

Yang was riding shotgun with Pyrrha and Jaune in the back.

Nora tore down the streets, the sirens blaring and other vehicles pulling to a stop to get out of her way.

Pyrrha began to brief Unit 5 like the good captain she is.

"Nora; when we get there you make sure we have a good perimeter around the vehicle so we can operate safely." Nora nodded slightly, her eyes still locked onto the road in front of her. "Got it, Cap."

Pyrrha turned towards Yang. "Yang, when we get there, I want you to get the metal cutters and everything else prepped just in case we have to get them out faster than normal." Yang nodded as well. "Got it."

"Now Jaune, I want you to get the support poles we keep in the back of the truck. Even if we don't use metal cutters, keeping the vehicle steady is crucial." Jaune's face turned serious. "I'll take care of it."

"Under no circumstances do any of you even think about touching the vehicle without making sure it won't injure the person trapped inside." Everyone made sure Pyrrha knew they heard her, and she nodded, pleased with her unit. They had several previous training on what to do in these situations, and responded to several like it; but a small refresher never hurt.

"Now, remember your training, Jaune. If we do have to use metal cutters it might be loud and scare the victim. Talk to them; keep them calm; no matter what condition they are in."

"Heads up guys; we're in view of the wreck." Nora stated. Yang reached for the radio. "Dispatch this is Unit 5, Xiao Long here. We are arriving at the scene; police set up a perimeter around the wreck; looks like two cars; head-on-collision. Both totaled; it appears the driver from one vehicle is okay and sitting in the grass. The other is still inside their vehicle."

"Roger that, Unit 5. Ambulance with EMTs are on their way, ETA about 10-15 minutes."

Nora quickly parked during the conversation with dispatch, and she hopped out and quickly went to checking perimeter.

Yang quickly got out and opened the side door towards the back of the truck where they kept the metal cutters. She quickly made sure it wasn't damaged on the drive towards the accident. Seeing as how it was in good shape, Yang plugged the cord of it into the space provided on the side of the truck. When the truck was driving, flipping a switch up front by the driver, you could charge up the batteries stored inside it for purposes just like this, where they need electricity to power their equipment. If they really needed more power, Yang could turn on the truck, but that wouldn't be necessary, seeing as how they charged it as soon as they got back to the station with a special cord.

The blonde haired firefighter made sure the metal cutters were working properly; stopping short of turning them on. They make a loud sound and could frighten a shaken up victim.

Yang hurried over to where Pyrrha and Jaune were talking with the occupant of the vehicle that was still trapped inside.

Trying to conceal her cringe at the state of the vehicle, Yang stepped closer to Pyrrha. "I got the stuff ready; want me to check on the other driver?"

Pyrrha nodded. "That would be good, Yang. Jaune, we will need those poles now. Get Nora's help. Oh; and have her check in and see where the ambulance is."

Yang only knew from being a close friend of Pyrrha, that Pyrrha was trying really hard not to freak out, even though she was scared. And Pyrrha scared was bad. Very bad.

Yang nodded to the police officers that were standing around doing basically nothing, and waved to the driver still sitting down on the grass. "Hey, my name is Yang Xiao Long."

The driver, a middle aged man wearing slacks and a dress shirt looked up at her. He had dark brown hair and eyes. Judging from the wounds around his eyes, Yang could assume he wore (or used to wear) glasses."Hi. I'm Gerald…" He still appeared to be shaken up by the crash, likely still in shock.

Yang motioned to the first aid pack she was carrying. "Hello Gerald. I'm a firefighter, and I have medical experience. I'm just going to check and see how bad your injuries are and evaluate from there."

Gerald nodded. "Okay."

Yang knelt down next to him and set the bag on the ground. She opened up the bags pockets and grabbed a flashlight. "Okay I need to shine this into your eyes to see how your brain is doing, basically. Now, can you tell me where you hurt?"

As Yang shined the light into his eyes, Gerald described where he hurt. His head, mostly the bridge of his nose and around his eyes where his glasses broke on his face during the impact. His neck hurt a bit, and his left leg had a small cut in it from where the metal from the driver door bit into his leg.

The neck was basically a no-brainer. Anyone in a wreck like this would have serious whiplash injury to their spine in the neck area.

Yang finished cleaning up Gerald's leg and was just finishing wrapping a bandage around it when Pyrrha walked over.

"Yang we need your help to support the car to get Allie out as soon as you're done."

Yang nodded in response. "Okay Gerald you're all set for now. An ambulance will be here soon to take you to the hospital to check for further injury, okay?"

He just nodded, still somewhat dazed. "Okay…"

Yang quickly put the medical equipment back in her bag and caught up with Pyrrha. "Hey Pyrrha, when will the ambulance arrive?"

Just then, they heard sirens approaching fast from the city. "Oh thank Oum" Pyrrha breathed.

Two ambulances and a couple EMT cars arrived and quickly moved into position. One ambulance got Gerald and was loading him into it, ready to take him to the hospital, along with some of the EMT's that showed up.

4 EMT's stayed behind to help Allie out of the car and into the ambulance.

Yang had already prepped the equipment to get Allie out; and Jaune had the poles ready.

Two of the EMT's Yang had met before, James Ironwood and Penny Polendia. They worked with them on several calls, and Yang liked Penny but was still unsure of James.

The other two EMT's Yang had no idea who they were. A man and woman, who drove to the scene together so they must be partners.

The man, who looked to be around 24, rushed up. "How is the victim?" He sounded distinctly Scottish.

"Allie Smith, 22, she has some severe damage to her legs, I don't know if they are broken or not. The metal is making it difficult to see. I just know there is a lot of blood that has stopped bleeding; once we move her it will most likely start again. As for spine damage, we steadied her head as best we could."

The EMT nodded. He had dark brown hair, almost black, and his eyes were a mix of green and blue. He had a scar on his forehead that trailed on the side of his head towards his back that he seemed to try to hide by swiping his hair to the right. He was about medium height, same age as Yang, 24, and looked fit.

"All right, nice work. Lorry! Get me the neck brace ready, okay?"

The other EMT, Lorry, nodded and held it up. "Already got it, Duncan." She was shorter than most people, hazel eyes that Yang couldn't quite figure the colour out. Shoulder-length light brown hair. She looked to be around 22.

He smiled a bit and headed towards the vehicle that held Allie. It was getting hot this time of the day in summer, and they needed to get her out. Duncan looked at the rear of the car and sighed. "Good, I can fit back there. Can you guys steady the car with the poles while I climb in?"

Unit 5 nodded and quickly moved into position. Jaune locked his pole and Pyrrha gave the word they were ready.

Duncan carefully and slowly climbed into the back of the crashed vehicle, and made it all the way in. "Miss Allie, this is Duncan again. I need to put this around your neck like we talked about, okay?" Allie had calmed down from the initial adrenaline, but looked to be in a lot of pain. "Okay…"

Duncan carefully put the neck brace on Allie, and once it was on, Lorry and Duncan shared a glance.

Lorry turned to Pyrrha and they walked out of earshot of the victim. "So, Miss Nikos, her legs are most definitely broken and have severe lacerations. Duncan got her neck steady, so now we need to get her out of the car and onto a stretcher."

James and Penny had readied the stretcher. "The stretcher is ready to go, Lorence." James said. Penny quickly headed to the ambulance to bring it closer.

Everything was coming together.

Yang bent down and looked at Allie, who looked beat up and hurting, but still hanging in there. "We are getting close to getting you out of there, Allie. But to do that we have to cut the car, this metal piece right here…" Yang tapped on the metal piece on the doorframe. "We have to use a loud piece of equipment, and it might be scary, but it just is cutting the metal so we can get you out. Okay?"

Allie nodded. "How…how much longer? I can't feel my legs anymore…" She was obviously scared, but was still hanging on, and Yang couldn't help but smile at her, even though her words made Duncan, still behind Allie, pale a bit. Loss of feeling on any extremity was really really bad.

Pyrrha handed Yang a big plastic cover, and Yang quickly took it. "All right, Allie, I'm going to cover you with this so metal pieces don't fall on you. Duncan, who's still behind you, will cover your ears when we start up the machine so it's not too loud. Is that okay?"

Allie nodded, almost imperceptible but still there.

Yang spread the cover over Allie and prepped for the metal cutter.

"All right guys it's looking good. We can proceed." Pyrrha said to everyone. She keyed in her radio. "Dispatch this is Nikos, we are ready to extract the patient. Will inform you of her state as soon as we can."

"Nikos this is Dispatch, copy on all. Standing by, hospital is ready to receive patient."

Everyone shared looks, and Nora picked up the metal cutters. "Let's go, guys."

After slow and careful cutting, the metal was all taken away so they could get Allie out. The metal by her legs was more difficult, but they finally got the metal out of the way. As Yang predicted they started bleeding but Duncan, still in the car, was able to quickly bandage them up.

The EMT's quickly asserted that Allie could be moved safely from the vehicle and onto the waiting stretcher.

"All right, one, two three!" They all carefully lifted Allie out of the car and onto the stretcher. She cried out a bit and everyone winced, but it had to be done.

James and Penny quickly rolled her over to the ambulance and loaded her up, with Duncan climbing in the back with them. Lorry got into the car Duncan and her arrived in and quickly followed them to the hospital.

Pyrrha grinned and keyed in her radio again. "Dispatch this is Nikos, patient is on her way to the hospital."

You could almost hear the joy in the dispatcher's voice when she replied. "Nikos this is Dispatch, ten/four. Nice work, guys."

Everyone on Unit 5 grinned and Yang slapped Nora on the back. "Nice work cutting, Nora."

Nora smiled wide and carried the cutters back to the truck. "All in a days work…"

* * *

It took several more hours, but the car and all of the debris from the wrecks were picked up and the crash site cleaned up, cars taken to the junkyard and everything.

Unit 5 wearily climbed back into Truck 5 and headed back to the station.

"…So, that was a thing." Yang said at the silence in the vehicle.

Nora giggled. "You're the best, Yang. But I still get dibs on shower!"

Pyrrha laughed. "Nora, we all have our own showers."

Silence.

"I knew that, guys!"

* * *

Back at the station, Unit 5 cleaned up the truck and got ready for another call, while Nora looked longingly at the showers. "Only six more hours, then I can shower and crash on my bed for three days!"

Jaune groaned. "I am with you, that call was really tiring, I mean can you imagine if we got another call right now?"

Just then, in a moment Jaune would regret, Unit 5's radios crackled with Dispatch. "Unit 5, we got a call of a campfire towards the east that looks to have gotten out of control. You're meeting with another department at the location to put the fire out."

The rest of Unit 5 glared at Jaune. "Nice work, man. Totally jinxed us." Yang said, putting her jacket back on and grabbing her SCBA, smirking.

Pyrrha cracked a smile. "Come on Jaune, we have to go to our other call right now."

Jaune groaned again.

"Dispatch, this is Nikos, Unit 5 is getting ready to leave. What's the address again?"

* * *

 **A/N: Sooooo I know this chapter is really late and I'm so sorry to all of you amazing readers out there that are still hopefully excited for more chapters. You guys are awesome, and thanks so much if you're still hanging in there with me. You guys rock my socks off!**

 **Also, thanks to Arieko, you got my butt in gear for this, so thanks, lol :p**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


	4. Chapter 3

_**Backdraft Chapter 3**_

* * *

Yang collapsed on her couch around midnight, still dressed in her firefighting uniform, and groaned. _Two serious calls in a row…_

After her unit got back from the vehicle crash that night, and Jaune totally jinxed them with having another call, they left and met up at the park a few miles out of town. Some dumbass left his campfire unattended and it caught the surrounding brush and trees on fire. Yang and her unit teamed up with a wild land firefighting unit that was already there, and they quickly got the fire under control with their combined efforts. After making sure there was no leftover cinders or sparks, Unit 5 left the wild land firefighters to take care of the rest, and they headed back to the station for some much needed showers and rest.

After Yang showered, she headed straight for her car so she could go home and get some sleep on her own bed.

The blonde didn't even make it to her bed, and as Yang lay on the couch thinking about the vehicle crash and fire that night, she slowly drifted to sleep, her eyes closing.

* * *

Yang jerked open, her eyes to be surrounded by flames, seemingly drawing closer and closer to her.

"Yang!" A voice said. It was whispery, and Yang couldn't quite make out who said it.

Yang swung around and looked behind her, where the voice had come from.

"Yang!"

Now it was on her left, and Yang looked in that direction, but the flames around her blocked her vision of who it could be. Yang tried to step out of the circle of flames around her, but as soon as she moved, the circle of blistering heat surrounded her. Normally fire was a kind of comforting coolness, but right now, Yang could feel the heat of the fire seem to get hotter as time drew on.

"Yang why aren't you saving me?"

The blonde jerked towards the voice, and ignoring the heat, stepped closer to the circle of fire.

"Who's there?!" She shouted into the darkness beyond the flames.

Suddenly a deadening silence, the flames no longer crackling. Only Yang and her pounding heart.

"You don't know who I am, Sister?"

Suddenly, a small figure clothed in red flames from head to foot appeared in the circle with Yang.

"Ruby…" Yang whispered.

"I screamed for you, Yangy. I knew you would come save me. But I was wrong."

Yang collapsed on her knees, her breath hitching in her throat as she choked back tears. "Ruby please, I didn't know! I'm sorry!" The flames were reaching almost an unbearable temperature now.

"Sorry couldn't save me. You are a failure, trying to look like a hero. Snowflake would be better off in a grave rather than to be saved by you! You saved her but not me?! Why couldn't you save your sister?! Your mother?!"

* * *

"Ruby please!" Yang jerked upright, her skin covered with cold sweat. She was in her house. On her couch. It was just a dream. _More like nightmare…again._

Yang slowly laid back down and looked at her ceiling.

She covered her face with her hands and fought back her emotions for the millionth time. _Time to go out drinking, I think._

Yang got up and changed into more casual clothes, dark jeans and a grey v-neck t-shirt. Since it was late and likely cold outside, Yang also put on a black button down shirt over her t-shirt and rolled the sleeves up. Grabbing her keys, Yang stepped out into the cool night air and locked her door behind her. Deciding to ride her motorcycle instead of her car, Yang started up her 'baby'.

The blonde smiled at hearing the purr come from her motorcycle. "You never fail to cheer me up, Bumblebee." Bumblebee was a yellow and black motorcycle Yang's father had given her when she left to join the firefighters in her current station. The large wheels and stylish look had stood out from other motorcycles, and Yang liked that. Yang sped out of her driveway and headed towards one of her favourite bars, Bloody Knuckles. It also happened to be a fight club, and Yang was training to get better so she could fight some on the weekends. Today was Thursday though, so no fights to even watch. That was okay with Yang though, because they still had killer beer.

Yang pulled into her usual spot and dismounted her cycle, looking around. The parking lot was not too crowded, it being around two in the morning.

Yang opened the door and was greeted by the familiar bar music she came to love.

Walking over to the counter, Yang plopped down on her usual barstool and waited.

Melanie Malachite strides over and grins, leaning on the counter in front of Yang. "So, your usual?"

Melanie was about medium height, has black hair and green eyes. She was Asian, and her hair was down nearly to the bottom of her back. She was wearing her normal white strapless dress she wore when bartending.

Yang just nods. "Anything to make me forget where I parked my car."

Melanie pushed off from the counter. "I could hear Bumblebee when you pulled up, haha I don't think you need a drink to forget where you parked your car because you didn't even drive your car."

Yang glared at Melanie's smirk. "You know what I meant, just give me beer."

Melanie nodded. "Coming right up!" She moved and started mixing the ingredients to make Yang's usual, called Firecracker. A mix of some really strong alcohol that was sure to leave Yang with a headache in the morning if she drank several glasses.

"So, there a reason you want to forget? Or you just want to have a case of amnesia for fun?" Melanie said, mixing the drinks. She glanced back at Yang and she nearly winced at the expression on Yang's face. _I shouldn't have asked that…it's probably her nightmares again…_

Melanie knew about Yang's nightmares because one day, after heavy drinking, her whole story kind of came spilling out. Yang came back the next day, sober, and told her and Miltia, Melanie's twin sister, about how her sister died in a fire and Yang blames herself.

Mentally kicking herself for asking, Melanie set the drink down in front of Yang and smiled encouragingly. "Drink enough of that and you might forget what a car is."

Yang cracked a smile at that, and downed her shot in one gulp. "You might just want to set the mixer bottle over here."

Melanie tried to hide her worry. "Will do. But seriously; you okay, Yang? You want to talk about it or?"

Yang stared at her glass as she filled it up again. "Nah, no thanks Mel. Me and this glass are the only conversation I want to have. No offense, thanks, really."

Yang glanced up at Mel and smiled to show her thanks, but the smile never reached her lilac eyes.

Melanie nodded. "Sure thing Yang." She headed off to refill another customer's drink, leaving Yang to drown her sorrows in alcohol.

* * *

"Jes one more?"

"Yang no seriously, you have had enough. No, I take that back, more than enough. You reached your limit fifteen minutes ago. I only felt bad for you so I let you drink a couple more." Melanie just looked at the obviously drunk Yang with sadness but determination.

Yang grumbled, slid off her barstool, and with mumbled protest staggered towards the door, knowing fighting with Mel would have Junior on her ass and she for some reason knew that was a bad idea. She stopped at the door and patted her jean pockets and looked around confusedly.

Melanie watcher her go and shook her head. "Yang, I took your bike keys; you can come back and get them tomorrow. Take a cab home tonight, but seriously you are not driving home in your state."

Yang frowned and searched her pockets again, as if making sure that Mel wasn't lying. "You really did take em'…"

Mel sighed. "Go home and get some rest, Yang. It's nearly four in the morning."

Yang nodded. "Aye aye Mel!" With a clumsy salute, Yang stumbled out of the bar and looked around. Seeing a stylish black and yellow bike, Yang nodded appreciatively. "Nice taste in bikes, that persn'…"

Blinking at the street light, Yang shuffled further down the sidewalk. The night was fairly cold, but was warm enough that Yang wasn't freezing. It might have been the alcohol but still.

After walking down the sidewalk like a zombie for a while, Yang looked over to her left and saw a park.

" _You excited for tomorrow?!"_ A voice said. A ghost of a memory.

In return, Yang gave a ghost of a smile and whispered, "You bet, mom…"

She walked towards the park, only barely stumbling over twigs and rocks.

" _The park is going to be awesome, huh Yangy?"_ Another voice said.

Yang smiled again, but tears streamed down her face. She was standing and looking at the park, memories making her smile but cry at the same time.

"Yeah…the park is awesome, Rubes…" Yang walked forward and looked at the slide.

"You always liked the slide the best…"

Yang didn't know why she decided to do this, but she did know that she was seriously drunk out of her mind, so she figured blaming it on the alcohol would work in the morning.

Crawling into the bottom of the slide, just out of the cold breeze, but not too far up the slide, Yang stopped and curled into a ball.

"We should go to the park again, Ruby…"

Curled up like that, Yang slowly drifted off to sleep with happy memories…

* * *

"Mooooom! There is someone sleeping in the slide!"

Yang jerked awake and immediately regretted it. Her head felt like a jackhammer was having a field day, pounding on her head and making her wince with pain. She sat up, and then realized that she had drunk too much and her body was ready to tell her just what it thought about drinking that much alcohol.

Quickly jumping up and out of the slide, Yang ran to a clump of bushes by a park bench next to the park and promptly threw up most of the alcohol she drank last night.

It was not a pretty sight.

"Mom look! That woman is throwing up!"

Yang wiped her mouth on her sleeve and stood up; blinking at how bright it was outside.

"That was a lot of throw-up, mom! Almost as much as that one time you-"

"All right, Snowflake, just leave that person alone okay? Go play over there and stay away."

Yang perked up at the name Snowflake and turned around. Sure enough, Snowflake was there, moving to play somewhere else but she looked back and saw Yang.

"YANG!"

She ran right towards Yang and this time, Yang had neither the strength nor the willpower to brace herself for the coming impact.

"Oof!"

Yang was tackled by Snowflake, and smacked her head on the park bench on the way down.

"Ow…"

Snowflake stood up and looked down at Yang, who was lying on the ground holding her head, blinking at the sunlight.

"Hey Little White."

"Yang?!" Suddenly, a figure blocked out the sun shining in Yang's eyes and she saw a figure with white hair.

"Miss Shnee?" Totally confused and not sure if she was having an alcohol-induced hallucination, Yang slowly stood up.

Miss Schnee was just looking at Yang with a mixture of worry and disbelief. She was wearing black sneakers, light gray capris, and a white blouse with a blue jacket.

"You can call me Weiss, Yang."

Yang nodded. "Okay."

An awkward silence followed, mostly with Yang realizing for the first time how _attractive_ Weiss was. Weiss had the most stunning blue eyes Yang had ever seen.

"Yang?"

"Huh?"

"I asked why you were sleeping in the park…"

"Oh…" Yang rubbed the back of her neck absentmindedly. She didn't really feel like telling Weiss about her nightmares or anything like that. "I had a bad night. Went drinking, and apparently drank too much."

Weiss tried to hold back a snort. "I'll say; you probably threw up at least several bottles worth."

Yang winced, trying to forget that Weiss had seen her upchucking in the bushed by a park.

"Yeah…not a good idea to drink that much…" Yang winced and held her head, and felt something sticky on the right side of her head. Pulling her fingers away, Yang saw they were covered in a red substance.

"Oh my god you're bleeding!" Weiss said, moving towards Yang. Yang held up her other hand and winced again.

"I'll be fine I just need to get home…" Taking a step towards her house, Yang tripped on the edge of the playground area and nearly fell over.

Weiss was suddenly holding her arm and sighing. "You dolt you're going to kill yourself on accident if you try to get home by yourself."

Yang gave a weak attempt to pull away from Weiss, but it was more of a gentle tug if anything.

In Yang's defense, her head was _killing_ her.

Weiss stared at Yang, as if still trying to figure out if she was really there. It was obvious from how Yang was acting that her night drinking hadn't been for fun; Yang seemed broken, somehow. Deep down inside, where she didn't want anyone to look.

Weiss suddenly felt compassion for Yang.

"Come on Yang where do you live?" Weiss asked.

Normally Yang would have taken the opportunity to say something smooth, but right now she just groaned. "Look Weiss, I can't see straight and yeah though I saved you from arson it doesn't mean you have to do this."

Weiss suddenly looked rather pale. "What?"

Yang frowned. _What did I say this time?_

"You said arson. Why? What do you know?" Weiss asked her, this time more forcefully.

Yang groaned. "I should not have said that…look, Weiss I'm fine. I'll be heading home now."

Yang actually managed to extract her arm from Weiss's hands, took two steps and then promptly fell on her face.

"Oh my Oum you _dolt_!" Weiss rushed over to Yang and helped yang sit up. "You are a danger to yourself, you know that?" Weiss said.

Yang grinned up at Weiss, and Weiss felt herself feel a little weird all of a sudden. Just as suddenly, Yang got a serious look to her face, her lilac eyes widening.

"Hey, Little White! I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said over Weiss's shoulder.

Weiss whipped around and saw Snowflake standing on the monkey bars.

"But Yangy I'm a superhero!"

Weiss suddenly got a really devious plan. "Hey superhero, Yang needs help getting home! Can I assist you down so you can help Yang home?"

It was a dirty trick, but it worked. Weiss helped Snowflake down, and she ran over to Yang, who had since stood up and was looking at Weiss.

"Okay Yangy where do you live? I can help you home!" Snowflake exclaimed. She held out her hand, and briefly, so short Weiss thought she was seeing things, a pained expression formed on Yang's face.

"Okay then, superhero. I live on 6th Avenue East, house number 1247." Yang grinned down at Snowflake, and Weiss couldn't help but love her grin.

* * *

20 minutes later, Yang, Snowflake, and Weiss were walking down 6th Avenue East, and were getting close to Yang's house.

"1245…1246…1247! There it is! I found it!" Snowflake jumped up and down and ran up to Yang's door, trying the handle. "It's locked! Do you have the key?"

Yang laughed and tossed her keychain to Snowflake. "It's the biggest one there, but silver."

Snowflake was sifting through Yang's keychain, and Weiss covered her mouth trying to hide her giggle.

Yang sighed. "Your daughter is so freaking cute…"

Weiss nodded. "Agreed…"

Snowflake raised a certain key high in the air and shouted with glee. "Found it!"

She quickly tried inserting it into the lock, but this appeared to be giving her trouble. Yang headed over and pointed to the lock. "See how this part of the lock is bigger? On the key, there is a bigger part. You have to align…er, put together, the big part of the lock and the big part of the key. Make sense?"

Snowflake nodded, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. "Yeah…" She turned the key over and fit it into the lock and turned it.

The door clicked and opened in; Snowflake squealing in happiness. "Mom I did it I did it! Thanks Yang!" She gave Yang another hug, and was about ready to run inside Yang's house when Weiss stopped her.

"Snowflake! You have to ask permission before entering people's houses!" Weiss called out, a scolding motherly look on her face.

Yang laughed. "It's all right Weiss. But Snow, you should probably ask your mother if you can go inside someone else's house." She raised her eyebrows at Snowflake, and Snowflake nodded, looking serious again.

"Mom can I go inside Yang's house? Please?" She rose to her tip-toes and gave Weiss her big puppy dog eyes. Resisting was a lost cause.

"All right, but we can't stay long." Weiss sighed in defeat.

"YAY!" Snowflake ran inside, Yang already standing in the doorway and turning on the lights.

Snowflake looked around, admiring different knick knacks Yang had.

Weiss stepped inside and noticed that although Yang's house didn't smell bad, it smelled like alcohol. She looked around, curious as to how the firefighter that saved Snowflake's life lived. There was a small mud room, and it opened into a living room with a flat screen television hung on the wall in front of a medium sized brown couch.

Behind the couch was a hallway, most likely leading towards Yang's bedroom, Weiss realized. To the right was a doorway with no door, probably the entry to the laundry room. At least with the basket of overflowing clothes visible around the corner it was probably the laundry room.

To the left, not blocked by a wall, was the kitchen. A typical kitchen, with a counter by the living room side that had a few bar stools sitting next to it. It was actually a decent and nice house, open with a lot of living space.

Besides one little thing. There was reason Yang's house smelled like alcohol.

There was evidence of drinking everywhere. The coffee table was littered with beer cans and random assorted bottles of alcohol. All empty. The counter in the kitchen had cases of beer on it; most of them empty as well. Weiss was nearly positive that if she opened the fridge, it would be filled with alcohol.

"Oh that? That's a Rubik's cube. You have to twist it so that each side has the same colour on it."

Weiss turned to see Yang and Snow sitting on the couch. Well, Yang was sitting on the couch, and Snow was bringing her random objects and asking what they were for.

Weiss saw that some of the bottles on the coffee table had been hastily cleaned up a little bit, from when she was looking around.

The white haired woman hid her smirk. _She's trying to clean up…how adorable. It would take hours to clean this mess up…_

Glancing at Yang, Weiss couldn't help but feel there was something to her. A kind of sadness about Yang, because even though she is a firefighter and saves people for a living, she can't even save herself it looks like. I mean, sure she sounded cheerful and outgoing, but there was a brokenness to her. The alcohol almost proved it.

 _There is a reason she drinks…most likely to forget. But forget what?_

Weiss glanced around and noticed there were no pictures of family. There was a few pictures on the fridge of what Weiss assumed was Yang's firefighting unit, because one had them all in their gear, and a different photo had them all laughing in a bar, the picture taker blocking part of the lens with their thumb.

But there was not a single picture of Yang and her family. At least, not out in the open.

"Mom?"

Weiss blinked, broken out of her reverie.

"Sorry honey, what is it?" She looked over at Snowflake, who had asked the question.

Snowflake was standing by the couch, the Rubik's cube in her hand and looking at Yang, who was on the couch.

Yang was out cold. Her head was leaned against the back of the couch, her mouth open, a silent snore escaping her mouth.

With her short blonde hair messed up and sticking up at odd angles, Weiss couldn't help but smile a little. Yang seemed so much more at peace at the moment. Her face was…well…beautiful. The way her cheekbones met her chin, and how her nose was shaped, how her eyebrows, normally in a perpetual frown, were almost relaxing.

Snowflake gently set the cube on the coffee table and tip toed over to Weiss. "Mom, Yang fell asleep…should we get her a blankey?"

Weiss smiled down at Snowflake. "Yeah we should, cupcake."

Looking around, Weiss didn't see a blanket, and didn't feel comfortable going into Yang's bedroom without asking or being invited. Weiss still respected personal space.

Seeing a brown blanket with gold letters on the back of the couch, Weiss carefully extracted it without waking Yang.

Then for the difficult part…

"Hey Snow, could you hold this blanket real quick?" Weiss whispered. Snowflake held out her arms and picked up the blanket.

Weiss carefully laid Yang down on the couch, and moved her feet so they were resting on the armrest. She quickly untied her shoes and slipped them off, being grateful for Yang taking better care of her shoes, as her feet and shoes didn't stink at all.

Snowflake held up the bundle of blanket she was holding and smiled wide. "Can I tuck her in?!"

Weiss held a finger to her lips. "All right, but be quiet, cupcake."

Moving towards the kitchen, Weiss noticed the state of dirty dishes and random trash on the counter.

 _Yang how do you live like this?!_

Deciding it was the smallest thing she could do to repay the woman who saved her child's life, Weiss turned on the faucet, getting hot water ready to wash the dishes.

"Hey Snowflake? Could you maybe quietly pick up those bottles and throw them in the trash over here?"

* * *

Hours later, Yang startled awake from a dreamless sleep. The blonde tried to stretch her legs but felt something restrict her movement.

"Wha?"

She looked down at the blanket that was carefully still tucked around her feet and legs and frowned. Feeling her head, Yang touched a clean bandage that had been wrapped around her head. _Oh yeah…I hit my head in the park…_

Glancing at her clean coffee table, Yang looked back towards the blanket when.

Wait.

 _Clean_ coffee table?

Yang turned her head and stared blearily at her spotless coffee table. All of her beer bottles and trash was gone, there was only her random important mail and other stuff neatly piled in the middle.

Confused, Yang stood up and stretched. _That's the best sleep I've had in a while…_

Walking towards the kitchen, Yang stopped in her tracks.

It sparkled. Her kitchen fucking _sparkled_.

The dishes were all done, with them drying on the drying rack. The rest of them must have been put in her dishwasher.

Her counters were all clean as well. The counter that used to be covered with beer bottles and cases of empty cans of beer was all clean.

There was a piece of paper sitting on the newly cleaned counter, and Yang picked it up.

" _Yang, your house is dirty. You should keep it cleaner and maybe cut down on the alcohol. Take care of yourself. Thanks for saving Snowflake._

 _P.S. Call me about the arson_

 _-Weiss"_

 _443-9017_

Under Weiss's name was a number, most likely her cell phone number.

Suddenly she remembered Weiss walking her home, and Snowflake opening the door. She remembered Snowflake talking about the Rubik's cube, but after that, she must have dozed off…

Weiss must have cleaned while she slept.

This was by far the nicest thing anyone had ever done for Yang in several years.

Not trusting her legs at the moment, Yang sat down on one of her barstools by the counter.

Her lilac eyes starting to tear up; Yang covered her face with her hands. "Dear Oum, what have I done to deserve kindness like this…"

A part of her brain told her it was because she saved Snowflake, but another part said there was something about Weiss that was different. A kind of different Yang wanted to get to know.

She sniffled a bit and blinked the tears away.

If Weiss could clean her house while she slept, then Yang could call her and tell her everything she knew about the suspected arson.

But first, Yang was going to head to the station to talk to Coco and see just what she knows.

Leaving the same clothes she had on as yesterday, Yang stuffed her feet into her sneakers and picked up her keys, noticing that a certain key was missing.

"Oh crap I forgot about Bumblebee!"

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for waiting! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Finally getting more Weiss and Yang interaction and can I just say that Snowflake is freaking adorable!**

 **Anywho, I will see you guys later! Thanks for staying with me!**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


	5. Chapter 4

_**Backdraft Chapter 4**_

* * *

It was towards the afternoon and Miltia was tending the bar when Yang walked in. Miltia looked up, seeing the blonde and waving her over with a grin. Yang spotted her and made her way towards her. Yang grinned, feeling oddly happy, and leaned against the bar counter. "Hey Mil! What's up?"

Mil laughed. "Mel told me about yesterday, and you can't seriously be thinking about drinking again. It's not good for your health, you know."

Yang waved her hand in dismissal. "I know better than to get shitfaced twice in a row. After that one time in 93'….never again…" Yang gazed off into the distance with a shell-shocked look on her face.

"Come on Yang I was being serious!" Miltia half-heartedly slapped Yang's shoulder, and Yang laughed again.

Miltia and Melanie were nearly-identical twins who worked in Bloody Knuckle Bar, and were really good friends of Yang's.

"I know, I know, but I'm not here to drink, Mil." Yang said.

Miltia nodded. "Then the only other thing you care about that's here besides alcohol must be the fights?"

Yang placed a hand on her heart. "How you wound me so…I care about more than beer and fights you know! Like my precious motorcycle that is missing a key that Mel stole from me yesterday."

Miltia laughed. "Of course, how could I forget about Bumblebee?" The black-haired bartender held up a key ring with a certain motorcycle key on it. Yang smiled and held out her hand.

"Here you go Yang." Miltia was handing the key ring to Yang when a voice interrupted. "Wait!"

Yang glanced behind Miltia and smirked. "Oh come on Mel, you can't steal my bike again, that's my baby!"

Melanie laughed. "Nah I am going to blackmail you or something. 'You don't get your bike unless you close up for me' for instance would be the perfect use for that."

Miltia rolled her eyes at her sister and dropped the keys in Yang's outstretched palm. "Oops must have dropped them. My bad, sis."

Melanie glared. "Traitor."

Yang held up both her hands. "Whoa, I'll just be going before you two start world war three."

Melanie just laughed. "You're the instigator! You started this!"

Yang nodded patronizingly. "Of course; whatever helps you sleep at night."

* * *

Yang pulled into her parking spot at work and dismounted, unbuckling her helmet from her head. Running her hands through her short blonde hair, Yang headed around to the front of the station and saw the garage doors were open.

"Come on Velvet! Pass!"

"I'm open!"

"Block her Fox!"

Yang grinned.

Unit 6 was playing basketball, along with Pyrrha. It was quite the sight.

"Who needs another player?!"

Fox, Yatsu, Velvet, Coco, and Pyrrha stopped playing and looked over at the garage entrance, where Yang was holding up her hands, a wide grin on her face.

"You know you don't have work today, right?" Pyrrha said, smiling and tossing Yang the basketball.

Yang caught it and started dribbling. "Yup! Do I need an excuse to play some ball with my bros?"

Fox smirked. "Three against three?"

Yang laughed. "Five against one!" And took a shot at the hoop that had been crudely put up in the bay for playing basketball.

Yatsu sighed. "Nothing but net…again."

Coco shook her head, already in defeat. "Of course."

Pyrrha got into a ready stance and grinned. "Come on, how hard could four against one be?"

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Pyrrha was panting and covered in sweat. She sat down by one of the support pillars in the bay and picked up her water bottle. "I surrender…"

Everyone else didn't look much better.

Yatsu was drenched in sweat, but he grinned. "I like to think we at least tied with Yang."

Yang, on the far side of the bay, collapsed and laid on the cold cement. "I'll accept a tie…"

Coco downed an entire bottle of water and nodded. "Then it's a tie."

Velvet and Fox agreed. "Yeah, a tie it is." Fox said.

Velvet looked at the collapsed Yang and shook her head in wonder. "Who knew you were so good at basketball, Yang? Did you play in school?"

Yang looked up from her spot on the floor. "Yeah…our school won state twice, once junior year and then again my senior year…"

Pyrrha huffed. "Yeah, you little cheater."

"Hey I do not cheat! It's pure skill, baby. You don't like it then don't play." Yang defended.

Everyone laughed, and Pyrrha sighed in defeat.

Velvet opened her mouth to say something when the fire stations alarm rang. Everyone stood still as the beeps finished and then the dispatcher was heard.

"Fire station, this is dispatch, we have another house fire in a residential area, it was caught early, we need you there immediately to keep it from spreading. Repeat; fire in residential area, street names Sunset Drive and Glassview Lane. It's the house on the intersection."

Unit 6 and Pyrrha all got serious faces and quickly got into their gear before dispatch even finished.

"Dispatch this is Pyrrha here with Unit 6, we are getting ready to head to fire, we'll be there in about 13 minutes give or take."

Yang got out of the way and did what she could to help them get ready.

"Bye guys, stay safe!" Yang called.

Velvet smiled. "Will do, Yang."

They got into one of the trucks and were out of the station within 5 minutes.

Yang looked around the now-empty station. "I guess I could clean my stuff while I'm here..."

* * *

Yang checked her pressure regulators on her gear and the air in the tank. Noticing it was a little lower than it should be, Yang put the tank in the refill station to get filled up later. Grabbing another tank, Yang strapped it into her SCBA and got it all hooked up for use.

Her turnout gear, black with yellow reflectors, looked a bit dirty, and so Yang swapped them out with the spare that each firefighter was given. Making sure that everything was looking good, Yang glanced at her helmet and boots.

Yang's helmet was black, with yellow reflectors on the side and in the back. Towards the back side of her helmet was a sort of covering that was fireproof, to prevent sparks and embers from falling onto the back of her neck and ears while she was in a fire.

The front of the helmet had flip-down eye protection that also served as a heat shield, and came in handy. Well, it would if Yang used it, but she didn't actually need it most of the time.

The front of her helmet had her rank on the top, _Lieutenant_ , with her number _12_ under it, and below that her name, _Xiao Long_.

It was rather dirty at the moment, and so Yang sat on the benches in the far part of the bay cleaning her helmet from all the dirt and grime from numerous fires. She didn't clean it before she left the station a couple days ago because she was too tired to care, honestly. She just wanted to sleep.

And drink.

Yang sighed. Of all the people to run into, Yang had run into Weiss Schnee. And Snowflake, that adorable little white ball that she was.

Yang smiled just thinking about the adorable girl.

" _Snowflake…how did you get so damn cute…"_

Yang shook herself out her thoughts, glancing down and noticing her helmet had been clean several minutes ago.

" _Well, nothing like a nice polish to make things look good."_ Yang thought.

And now to clean her quarters. Yang headed upstairs where the sleeping quarters were, and stepped inside her room. It wasn't too dirty, but her bed sheets could be changed, and the floor vacuumed.

" _Thank god we have carpet…so soft…"_

Yang finished changing her sheets, and tossed the dirty ones into the hamper by the wall.

Figuring she might as well put the shower towel in there too, Yang placed that in the basket as well.

"Yipee, laundry time…" Yang sighed.

Carrying the basket to the laundry room that the station shared, Yang had just entered the room when she heard more voices from the radio. Deciding to tune in, Yang turned up the volume.

"Unit 6 this is Dispatch, I called ahead to hospital; the burn unit is ready for your member to arrive. Hang in there."

Yang stopped in her tracks. Unit 6…

One of them was hurt -burned- and heading towards the hospital. Who knew how badly they were injured?

Dropping the laundry basket; stopping only to make sure the station was closed up, Yang ran towards where she parked Bumblebee and slapped her helmet on her head and started up her bike.

Revving her engine, Yang sped away towards the hospital. _"Hang in there guys…"_

* * *

Arriving at the hospital, Yang quickly parked her bike and shut off the engine. Hurrying through the front doors, Yang went immediately towards the front desk.

"Hi miss how can I help you?" Said the woman. She had shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, with typical secretary clothes. Her badge said "Sheryll". Sheryll was typing on her computer and glanced up at Yang. Seeing the serious look on Yang's face though, she stopped typing.

"I need to see a patient, a firefighter, brought in not long ago." Yang stated.

Sheryll nodded and started typing on her computer. "All right, there was a female firefighter brought in about 9 minutes ago, looks like she got burned pretty badly. She's in burn care right now. Looks like the rest of her unit is in waiting room five on the third floor."

Yang was already heading towards the stairs before Sheryll even noticed she left.

* * *

Striding down the hall, Yang ran her hands through her hair; a habit she did when she was nervous, excited or scared. This time it was nervousness and being afraid for either Velvet or Coco who got burned.

" _I should have asked the lady who was burned…"_ Yang thought, mentally kicking herself.

"Yang?"

Yang stopped walking and looked to her left, where Fox was standing in the doorway to a waiting room.

"Hey Fox; I got here as fast as I could. What happened?"

"Velvet got hurt responding to the fire, and as soon as we were finished with the fire we came right here."

"I was stupid. It's my fault." Said a subdued voice from Yang's right.

Yang glanced over and saw Coco sitting on a chair, looking at the ground, her arms resting on her knees. Everyone still had their turnout gear on, but took off their coats. Coco's pants were covered in soot and ash.

Yatsu was sitting next to Coco, but it looked like his attempts to comfort her were going nowhere.

"Where's Pyrrha?" Yang asked, noticing her friend wasn't there. As Captain, Pyrrha oversaw more than just Yang's unit, which is why she was with Coco's unit.

"She's talking to the doctors and stuff. Seeing how bad Velvet is…" Fox said, crossing his arms. "Personally I would have liked to go with her, but she said that we should stay here and just wait until she comes back with more information."

Yang sighed and started slowly pacing around the small waiting room. It was only them in the room, which was good at least.

Yatsu placed a hand on Coco's shoulder, but it was as if he set off a bomb.

Coco exploded to her feet and waved her arms around. "You think you can just comfort me?! No! We were _partners_ , she _trusted_ me! And what did I do? I let her down, we got separated. Never leave your partner. And because I did, now she's badly hurt and what if she doesn't make it, huh? What if…what if…"

All of the energy that Coco expelled seemed to have left her drained, and she slumped back down onto the couch by Yatsu and started softly crying. Yatsu then wrapped his arms around Coco and started speaking to her softly.

Just then, the near-silence in the room was broken by Pyrrha walking in.

Everyone looked up and just stared at Pyrrha with wide eyes, hoping for good news…praying…

"She's going to make it."

Everyone let out the breath they had been holding, and Fox and Yang walked over to Pyrrha.

"How is she?" Fox asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

Pyrrha sighed. "Well, when that beam fell between Coco and Velvet, it had some nails in it that cut right through the back of her coat. Once exposed, when the beam landed, it threw hot coals and other debris right into the coat. She sustained second degree burns across her back, but the most serious of the wounds was a nasty cut from the nails. Since they nails weren't clean it has a high chance of getting infected."

Yatsu and Coco were staring at Pyrrha, while Fox and Yang both shared worried glances. Pyrrha let them process the information before continuing.

"Now, the cut wasn't deep; infection and those burns are Velvet's main injuries. The burns will heal and as long as the wound is cleaned properly she should be back to work in a week or so. Now Coco, I want you to look at me."

Coco had been wiping her eyes from fresh tears, but looked up at Pyrrha as the red haired woman walked over and knelt down next to her.

"In no way, shape, or form is Velvet's injuries your fault. You didn't leave her on purpose, that beam fell right where you had been standing. Had you not jumped out of the way, you probably wouldn't be here. And I know for a fact that Velvet would take her injuries over loosing you. But she wanted me to tell you to stop blaming yourself. She'll be okay."

Coco blinked fresh tears out of her eyes and sniffled. "Thanks Pyrrha…"

Standing up, Pyrrha grabbed her fire coat. "Now, the doctors are still patching her up, and then they want her to get some uninterrupted sleep. So, you guys go home and get some rest. Tomorrow around 9 in the morning we can take turns visiting her, all right?"

Everyone nodded, feeling relieved that Velvet was going to be okay.

Slowly filtering out of the waiting room and back outside, Unit 6, Yang and Pyrrha stood and looked around outside. The sun was starting to set, and everyone looked at it.

"Well, I call dibs on seeing Velv first tomorrow!" Fox said, grinning.

Yatsuhashi laughed. "Then I call dibs on shotgun!" They both headed towards the back of the lot, where they parked the fire truck.

Pyrrha nodded to Yang and subtly herded Coco towards the truck as well. "Come on Coco; let's get back to the station and take much-needed showers."

Yang watched them go, and she sighed. So much crazy stuff had happened lately, Yang just needed a break. But with Velvet hurt, Yang wasn't sure if she'd get the break she needed.

" _At least I can go home and get some sleep."_ Yang thought wryly.

* * *

Unlocking her front door, Yang couldn't help but think of Snowflake and her adorable attempts doing the same thing.

And with that thought, Yang glanced at the counter and saw that the note with Weiss's number was still there.

"That's why I went to the station! I forgot to ask Coco about the arson stuff!" Yang groaned. Now it was a really bad time to talk to Coco about that, so Yang would hold off on asking her about that until everything settled down.

Making herself a bowl of cereal, Yang sat down on one of her barstools and checked her phone. Seeing a message from Pyrrha, Yang clicked on the notification.

 **P: "Yang, thanks for coming to the hospital today. Everyone was glad to see that you were there for them and Velvet."**

 **Y: "No problem. I'm just glad she's going to be okay."**

 **P: "Yeah, me too. Now I got to get to bed; it's been a long day. Goodnight Yang; don't drink too much."**

 **Y: "I have no idea what you're talking about… Goodnight Pie! :D"**

 **P: "'Pie' will kick your ass when she sees you next."**

 **Y: "Bring it, Pie!"**

Yang laughed quietly to herself and set her phone down. _"I don't know if I want to even drink and pass out again."_ Yang thought. Finishing her cereal, Yang yawned. "Speaking of passing out; I'm pretty tired too."

Rinsing her bowl out, Yang glanced around at her still-clean kitchen and made a pact to herself to never let her house and kitchen get so dirty ever again. Having a clean house and kitchen was a really nice feeling and Yang didn't want to lose that.

Heading down the hallway, Yang entered her bedroom and sighed. "While out there may be clean, in here needs some work…"

In the middle of the far wall was Yang's bed, with a blue comforter on the queen-sized bed. To the right of the bed was a small bedside table with a lamp on it. To the left of the bed was a dresser against the left wall and to the left of that was Yang's closet that looked like a tornado had decided to chill there for a bit.

To Yang's right, on the right wall, was a desk with small things like bills and her laptop and other odds and ends. Above that desk was some of the only pictures Yang had hanging up in the house, and it was a small picture of when Yang was little; a family picture of her father, mother, and Ruby and Yang. Next to it was a picture of Yang in high school, her graduation photo, and then a recent one of Yang in front of the fire station she currently worked at. She had that taken about a week after she started working there, and the station was like her second home.

Yang's bedroom floor had some nice grey carpet, but with all the clutter on the floor you could hardly tell. Random dirty clothes littered the floor, mixed with empty beer cans and bottles. _"Man I need to clean really bad…"_

Deciding that was a battle Yang could deal with another day, Yang stripped out of her clothes and climbed under her sheets only in her underwear. Yang had dealt with enough today; clothes were overrated.

Setting the alarm on her phone to wake up with enough time to wake up and visit Velvet in the morning, Yang snuggled under her covers, and drifted off to sleep…

* * *

"Here, Yang!" A man with short blonde hair said, tossing a basketball to a little girl.

"I got it, I got it!" The girl said, her long blonde hair flowing about, her lilac eyes shining as she caught the ball. She jumped and shot the ball at the net in the driveway, making it right in the net.

"Whoo go Yangy!" Said a smaller child, clapping her hands proudly for her sister.

"You guys are going to let dinner get cold, haha come on inside." Said a voice from the porch.

Yang held up the baksetball that she had caught. "But mom just a few more! I am more better at this!"

Summer grinned down at Yang. "It's _much better_ not _more better_ , but honey I made your favourite; chicken and mashed potatoes!"

That got Yang moving, and she hurried inside, with Ruby and her parents following her.

"Yang has good reflexes, a good eye and a smart brain; I think she can go places." Taiyang said to Summer. Yang had stopped to call her dad inside, and had overheard him.

"I can go places…"

* * *

"I can go places…" Yang mumbled, realizing she was awake but wanting to go back to bed.

That was a nice dream; she wanted to go back.

Back when she was innocent and little, and Ruby and Summer were still alive…

Back when her dad, Taiyang, used to smile all the time.

When life seemed so simple that throwing some hoops was the biggest achievement you could think of.

Yang hadn't talked to her father in a while. It could have been the guilt about the fire, or guilt about not doing more to keep in touch, but with each day that passed, it got harder and harder to keep in touch with him.

Suddenly the blonde was assaulted by a horrible alarm sound coming from her phone.

Flailing an arm around until she hit snooze, Yang groaned. "If you weren't so expensive and nice I'd have thrown you…"

After a few more times of pretending to be asleep and shutting off the damn alarm, Yang finally decided to get up.

Walking to the kitchen, Yang started up her coffee pot with what would soon be coffee and then proceeded into the bathroom to take a shower.

After convincing herself to leave the warm water, Yang quickly dressed in some presentable clothes and grabbed a travel mug from one of her cupboards. Filling it up with coffee, Yang closed the lid on it and checked her watch.

8:45

"Fifteen minutes until visiting hours; that's plenty of time."

Deciding since she had coffee, the blonde fire fighter decided to take her car this time instead.

Her car was a beat up old thing that she got when she graduated high school, a 2000 Honda Civic, and the miles on it were insane.

Starting it up, Yang sighed. "I should get some _sexy_ car like Pyrrha's…"

* * *

Arriving at the hospital, Yang easily spotted Pyrrha's _sexy_ red 1967 Chevrolet Camaro and parked next to it.

"That's it; I am going to get a _sexy_ car as soon as I possibly can." That decided, with only a few dirty looks at Pyrrha's sexy car, Yang headed inside and checked in at the front desk as a visitor.

Heading up towards the third floor, Yang spotted the sign that said waiting room five and she headed in.

Pyrrha was sitting next to Coco on the couch, and Yatsu was sitting in the chair next to them. Fox was standing next to the window and looking out of it.

"Hey guys." Yang said, entering.

Fox nodded his head in greeting, his eyes never leaving the window.

Yatsu stood up and gave a little bow. Yang bowed her head in return. Yatsuhashi bowed more often than not as a greeting or a farewell, and Yang had come to respect that.

"Hey Yang." Coco said, smiling. She seemed to be doing better than yesterday.

Pyrrha was smirking at Yang. Yang raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Pyrrha's smirked harder. "Oh I don't know…you checking out my car before you came inside?"

Yang laughed. "Okay, anybody who has a _sexy_ car like that is just asking to get their car ogled."

Pyrrha couldn't keep a straight face and she laughed. "You have a fair point."

It was Yang's turn to smirk. "I mean, I love the car but the owner? Psh, anybody with the name 'Pie' is just weird."

Pyrrha face-palmed. "Oh my Oum Yang! I'm going to kick your ass!"

Yang nodded. "Yeah, I totally agree. But just don't do it next to your _sexy_ car."

Pyrrha actually looked like she might just stand up and fight Yang when a nurse walked in.

"Miss Scarlatina will be taking visitors now. Two at a time is the max; we don't want to stress her out. She's still a little shaken up, and the meds are making it harder for her brain to process things."

Fox and Yatsu stepped forward. "We'll visit first then." Fox said.

They followed the nurse out, and Yang sat down in the chair that Yatsu was occupying.

"Saved by the nurse." Pyrrha commented.

Coco chuckled a bit at that.

* * *

Coco and Pyrrha went in next, and they spent a fair amount of time in with Velvet.

When Coco came back, she had fresh tear stains on her cheeks, but she looked a lot happier than she had been.

"All right, you guys don't have to wait on me." Yang said, following the nurse (Her name was Joy, as it turned out) down the hall.

"Okay, here we are. You can have up to 10-15 minutes with her, but don't take too long; she needs her rest." Joy said.

Yang nodded. "Thank you so much."

Stepping inside the room, Yang saw Velvet positioned on her side, facing the doorway.

"Hey Yang…" Velvet said. She was smiling, but looked, if Yang was to be totally honest, shitty.

Her face was rather pale, and her eyes looked tired.

Deciding not to even take up ten minutes, Yang grinned. "Hey Velv. I am sorry to hear about you getting hurt, but I'm glad you're going to be okay."

Velvet nodded. "Yeah, I'm really lucky. The doctors said that I could have had spinal damage if I had been hit just an inch to the right."

Yang whistled. "Damn, you are lucky!"

They shared a quiet laugh before Velvet got a serious look on her face. "Yang, Yang I didn't say anything to the others because I'm not sure if they'd understand, but you were in a house fire and nearly didn't make it out. You know what it's like."

Yang frowned and stepped closer to Velvet.

"Yeah…yeah I do. What's this about?"

Velvet looked around, as if to make sure nobody else was in the room, and then looked at Yang.

"Yang…it was arson. The fire. It was arson. Everybody thinks it was a gas leak, just like we did at the Schnee place. No-exactly like the Schnee place. Except this time, I saw something. Right before the beam exploded out, I could have sworn there was a woman…she was covered in fire, but not burning up!"

Velvet looked earnestly at Yang. "Yang, she cut the gas lines and then lit it on fire. I could see her in the kitchen from the living room, and a lot of her body was on fire. I didn't get another glimpse of her because right then the beam fell. I talked to Pyrrha, and only the owner of the house died, and he was male. Definitely not the woman I saw."

Velvet frowned in thought and looked up at Yang. "I didn't tell the others, because they'll just say I'm going crazy. But I know what I saw. Yang, there was a woman who could control fire, or sustain fire or something! I don't know what exactly but trust me-she was there."

Yang was just standing there, looking shell-shocked.

So much information, all at once. So, fire. Arson. Fire lady? Someone who could control fire, or sustain fire…

Just like Yang.

Yang's eyes opened wide. "Oh my god…"

There was someone else like Yang out there.

Velvet could be high on the medicine, sure, or still in shock, yeah. But no way could she seem this earnest about it.

Yang held Velvet's hand. "Velvet, I believe you. But you gotta know how others will see this. So for now, if you remember anything else, tell me. Trust me; I believe you."

Velvet sighed. "Thanks Yang…I knew you would believe me…"

Yang nodded. "Always, Velvet. Now get some rest, yeah? We need your help out there, fire fighter."

Gently play punching Velvet's shoulder, Yang let go of Velvet's hand and waved, backing towards the door quietly. "See ya, Velvet. I'll visit soon, yeah?"

Velvet nodded, already drifting off to sleep. "I'd…like that…"

Shutting the door behind her, Yang frowned, deep in thought.

So. Someone else out there has some kind of fire power. And they set another fire.

Wait.

Another fire! So Weiss was the first time…or was it even the first time? Other random fires could have been the same 'accident'.

Either way, this meant Yang had enough information to talk to Weiss about it.

Checking out at the front desk, Yang hurried towards her car and got out her phone. Having already memorized her number, Yang entered 443-9017 in and sent her a text.

 **Y: "Hey Weiss, this is Yang. I know more about your house fire, about the arson."**

Putting her phone back away, Yang got into her crappy car and sighed.

"I feel as if I'm getting into something big…bigger than me or Weiss… Is it worth it?"

* * *

 **A/N: SO! Yay next chapter finally out, haha this gave me no end of troubles to write, hopefully I wrote somewhat decently. :p**

 **So Yang is starting to uncover something big; but how big and in the end; will it really be worth it?**

 **Time will tell…**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


	6. Chapter 5

_**Backdraft Chapter 5**_

* * *

Sighing, Weiss pulled into the parking space in front of her apartment. Looking up at the state of the buildings, Weiss sighed again.

Not too long ago, Weiss lived in a mansion. Everything was nice, fancy, and rich. Now? Now Weiss was reduced to living in a shabby apartment complex with loud, annoying, mostly-drunk neighbors.

Grabbing her briefcase, Weiss got out of her car (locking it, of course) and headed towards her 'house'.

As soon as she stepped inside her apartment, Weiss smiled. She didn't even have to call for Snowflake that she was home, because Snow was already nearly knocking her mother over with an attack hug.

Weiss's smile widened and she kissed the top of Snowflake's head. "I missed you, Snow."

A small giggle escaped from Snowflake. "I was here the whole time, mom." Weiss smirked at that. "Of course, Snowflake, how could I forget?"

From the kitchen came Snowflakes babysitter, Klein Sieben. He was a somewhat short man in his late 40s, bald on the top of his head, with lots of freckles on his face. His hazel eyes were smiling, his bushy mustache lifted in a smile as well.

"Miss Schnee! I'm so glad you got home; Snowflake and I have built a grand structure!" Klein was permanently wearing a butler suit, and no matter what Weiss did he wouldn't wear anything different.

Weiss laughed and set her briefcase and phone on the kitchen table. "I would love to see this grand structure you two have built."

Weiss was led by an eager Snowflake and a nearly equally eager Klein into their small living room.

"Tada!" Snow shouted, raising her hands above her head in a victory pose.

Weiss laughed. "My goodness that tower really is something!"

The tower in question was made out of legos, and when Snow raised her hands in the air, it was nearly as tall as her.

Klein nodded. "Quite an ingenious design; all made by Snowflake. I only helped with construction."

Weiss giggled. "I'm sure…"

Just then, Weiss's phone sounded with a notification.

"Ah, I have to go see if there is more news from work, I'll be right back, Snow."

Weiss headed towards the kitchen/dining room and picked up her phone from the table. An unknown number had sent her a text.

Frowning, Weiss opened up the texting app.

" **Hey Weiss, this is Yang. I know more about your house fire, about the arson."**

That was it; that was the text. Weiss huffed. _"At least tell me what you know, Yang! I swear to Oum…"_

Suddenly, a crash sounded from the other room, followed by shouts.

"Kleiiinnn I said to catch it! It was falling!"

"Deepest apologies, madam!"

* * *

"Thank you so much, Klein. Your help has really been a lifesaver recently." Weiss said.

Klein just shook his head. "I am always here for you Weiss. Have a nice day!"

He headed down the steps and got into his tiny vehicle, a white Volkswagen beetle that Snowflake absolutely adored.

Snow was at the window waving to him until his car disappeared from sight.

Weiss smiled at her adorable daughter and opened up her phone. **"Yang, I have the afternoon off work, can Snowflake and I come over and talk about the fire?"**

* * *

Yang, currently being a couch potato watching a TV show, read the message and looked around her apartment. While it still held remnants of the cleanliness from when Weiss cleaned it, it was still not what Yang wanted Weiss or Snowflake to see, what with how dirty it had become.

" **Yeah sure, come on over!"**

Yang took one more look around her apartment. "Shit…"

* * *

Now Yang is not one to brag too much, but the fact that she cleaned her living room, kitchen and did the dishes all under twenty minutes was an amazing feat.

Yang glanced down at her clothes and sighed. Sweatpants and an old high school t-shirt wouldn't do.

Running down the hall towards her bedroom, Yang simultaneously got dressed in some black skinny jeans and a light grey t-shirt while cleaning her room. Somewhat presentable now, Yang brushed her teeth while putting on her sneakers.

Finally, everything looking to be in its place, Yang collapsed on the couch.

"Now what?"

* * *

Weiss (who definitely did not remember how to get to Yang's house) pulled into Yang's driveway with Snow in the backseat of her car. Her basically brand new BMW X5 M next to whatever kind of rusty car Yang owned made Weiss feel a twinge of smugness.

Getting out and helping Snowflake grab her bag of toys, Weiss walked up to Yang's door.

Not seeing a doorbell, Weiss knocked on the door. Almost a few seconds later the door opened up and Yang smiled at them.

"Why what brings you two here?" The tall blonde said, stepping aside to let them in.

The first thing Weiss noticed was that her house was a lot cleaner than last time. Like, a LOT cleaner.

Snowflake looked around. "Wow Yangy! Your house is a lot cleaner than last time! Last time, mom said how she didn't understand how someone could live in a pig sty."

Going completely red, Weiss cleared her throat, patting Snowflake on the head. "That's my girl, always remembering everything…"

Yang laughed. Yang was wearing black jeans and a grey shirt, and her bright blonde hair was swept to the right in an obvious attempt to look presentable.

"Yeah, it was really dirty, huh Snowflake?" She squatted down to Snow's level and curiously peered in her bag. "What goodies are in here?"

Snowflake laughed. "Silly, these aren't goodies. They are toys!"

Yang chuckled. "I see. I cleaned off the coffee table just for you, Little White. You can set all of your toys up on it if you want."

Snow grinned wide, her bright blue eyes shining. "Yay!" She basically hopped over to the table and started setting up toys.

Yang stood back up and looked at Weiss. Weiss had dark grey dress slacks and a white blouse on, complete with heels. It looked like she was dressed for work and didn't have the time to change out.

"So, what is this information about the fire and arson you learned?"

Yang glanced up at Weiss with a sudden unreadable expression. Almost…fear?

"Right…the fire. You might want to sit down. First, you want anything to drink?" Yang moved towards the kitchen.

"Water is fine, thanks Yang." Weiss sat down on one of the barstools by the counter.

Yang nodded. "Hey Little White, do you want some water to drink?" She asked. Snowflake hopped off the couch and hurried over to the kitchen, where Yang was filling up a plastic cup for her.

If Weiss noticed one thing about Yang, it was that she was really good with kids. Especially Snowflake. Just watching the two of them interact was adorable. Yang was gentle but exciting and Snowflake was energetic but paid attention to Yang. Plus Yang called Snowflake 'Little White' and Weiss didn't want to admit it but she thought it was even more adorable than Snow and Yang interacting.

Weiss shook her head and took a drink of water, smiling at them. _"I need to have Snowflake and Yang hang out more often…"_ Weiss thought.

"All righty, so, the fire. You wanted to know if it was arson, correct?" Yang asked, sitting down on a barstool across the table from Weiss.

Weiss nodded, getting a bad feeling.

Yang sighed and ran her hands through her hair, and Weiss had to keep herself from staring at her face; the way her hair stopped above her eyebrows and made her lilac eyes stand out…

"Weiss?"

Jerking back to the present, Weiss cleared her throat. "I'm sorry; you were saying?"

The muscular blonde nodded. "It's okay. But I was saying that your house was definitely set on purpose. Arson."

Weiss placed her hands on the counter and looked at Yang. The seriousness in the firefighters lilac eyes proved it. She was serious. She knew…but how?

"How did you find out?" Weiss asked, curious.

Yang got a saddened look on her face and shook her head. "I work closely with part of the FIU" At Weiss's confused look, Yang quickly put in "It's a fire investigation unit we have at the station. They are really good at what they do."

Weiss felt there was more to what Yang was telling her. Yang was looking down at the counter, her usual happy energy gone. She seemed…sad, but at the same time…lost? Confused maybe?

Weiss gently placed a hand over Yang's, and looked at her. "Yang, is there something else you want to talk about? Not even connected to the fire, but I don't know. You look like something is bothering you."

Yang quickly glanced up at Weiss, her eyes filled with emotions Weiss couldn't begin to discern.

"Maybe…I don't know. Something is bothering me, but I don't know if I want to tell you and make you be bothered by it too…" Yang ran a hand through her hair again, and Weiss smiled to herself.

" _That's why her hair is always so crazy looking"_

"Yang, I know that we are basically strangers, but you saved my daughter's life. I still feel indebted to you. But mostly, I just want you to know that someone out there cares for you too."

Yang squirmed in her chair, looking embarrassed at the praise. "You…care for me?"

Weiss nearly face palmed. "Of course I do, dolt! And it's not just because you saved Snowflake. You're a really nice person. Aside from your obvious drinking problem and throwing up in a park."

Yang laughed, her eyes brightening up a bit. "That was a total mistake; I didn't mean to throw up! Or even be in a slide or fall asleep there for that matter."

Weiss smiled, and was going to speak when her phone buzzed. Quickly fishing her phone out of her pocket, Weiss unlocked the screen and checked her texts. "Oh my god he's actually moving forward with the trial. Finally!"

Weiss stood up. "Hey, Yang, I would love to talk more but a client at work needs me, and I have to find a babysitter and then get to work before they start the trial and I have to-"

Yang had stood up as well, and she placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder. "Chill out, Ice Queen. I can watch Little Snow for you. Just call me when you're done with work. I got her. I saved her once already I won't let anything happen to her."

Weiss stopped, looking at Yang who was very sincere about her offer, and Snowflake, who had been listening and quickly ran over to Yang and hugged her legs. "Mommy Yangy can take care of me! Please please can I stay with her?!"

Weiss sighed. As if she could ever deny someone as adorable as Snowflake. "All right, Snow. You can stay with Yang until I am done with work."

"YAY!" Snowflake shouted, and hopped around Yang and Weiss.

Weiss sighed. "I'll try to be out of work as soon as I can. Thank you so much, Yang."

Yang grinned. "Of course. Now go! I got this."

Weiss grabbed her purse and hugged Snowflake. "Be good, Snow. Whatever Yang says, you listen to it and be the little angel you are; okay?"

Snow nodded, her white hair covering her face. Weiss brushed it aside and kissed her on the forehead. "Take care, Snow." Standing up, Weiss headed towards the door. "Seriously, thank you so much Yang…"

Yang nodded. "I know I know you're indebted to me again; haha just get going!"

Weiss quickly got into her car and saw Yang standing on her porch with Snowflake hugging her leg. _"Please don't make me regret this…"_

Weiss backed out and sped down the street, leaving just a blonde and a smaller white haired girl standing on the porch in silence.

"Welp; what do you like to do, Little White?"

* * *

"You sure "The Hunters and Huntress's of Beacon" is an actual book?" Yang asked, walking around the library for what seemed like the fifth time.

Snowflake nodded. "Yeah! Mommy used to read it to me a lot, but then when our house got full of fire and burneded down the book got burneded down too."

Yang tried to keep from laughing. "Aw that's sad…and Snow? Your house _burnt_ down it didn't 'burneded' down."

Snow nodded, looking thoughtful. "Right…that makes more sense…"

This time Yang couldn't help from laughing. "Little White, you are adorable."

Snowflake nodded. "Yeah, everyone I know says that; I don't know why."

Yang stopped and knelt down next to Snowflake. "Well you should know why. Do you want to know why?"

Snow gasped, her blue eyes filling with excitement. "Tell me, tell me, Yangy!"

Yang chuckled. "It's because you are kind and you speak your mind, you are thoughtful of other people, and always looking at the bright side of life. You're just a big bundle of light that helps to make people think that you're adorable."

Snow calmed down, and she looked at Yang. She opened her arms, and when Yang did the same, she slowly moved close and hugged Yang very tight. "Yangy…I love you…do you really think I'm a big bundle of light?"

Yang hugged Snowflake back, and she smiled. "Of course. I see your light, and I know other people see it too. Don't ever let it go out, okay?"

Snowflake sniffled. "You make my eyes get all misty!"

Yang's heart ached with how adorable Snowflake was, and how much Yang wished that she had met Snowflake a long time ago, in her dark days. A bundle of light would have helped a lot.

Yang patted the back of Snow's head. "Hey Snow?"

Snowflake stepped back and looked at Yang, her blue eyes shining with tears. "Yeah?"

Yang grinned and pointed behind Snowflake. "I found that book."

* * *

"And then the Huntress with the red cloak stopped the Grimm in its tracks, protecting the people behind her. She shouted for the villagers to go inside and lock the doors because it was dangerous outside. She alone protected the village for several days, and everyone knew they would be safe, because they could see rose petals falling from the sky, a sign that the Huntress was still protecting them."

"Wow! She protected a whole village from the Grimm?!" Snowflake exclaimed.

Yang laughed softly. "Yeah, she did. She was a hero."

Snowflake nodded her head. "You two could do a lot; you're a hero too! Two heroes would be like, double the protection!"

Yang laughed. "I can't argue with that logic there. But hey, didn't Weiss read this to you already?"

Snow shook her head. "No, she said the parts with the monsters was too scary for me. So she read the one about the sea storm instead."

Yang gulped. _"Dear Weiss, please don't kill me, I didn't know…"_ Yang subtly flipped the book to one of the more tamer parts, where the red cloaked Huntress led a group of people through some forests. Grimm weren't anywhere in this part. Yang sighed. _"Maybe there is hope for me yet…"_

"Hey Snowflake, you want to read this part for me?"

Snowflake was sitting on Yang's lap, and Yang had been reading for a while now, but Snowflake was still eager to read more.

"Yeah! I can read!" Snow said, squirming around and finding a better spot for a designated reader.

"Ahem…the Huntress walked down the road, looking for dan..dang"

"Dangers." Yang quietly offered, trying to let Snowflake do most of the reading on her own.

"Dangers!" Looking for dangers along the road the vill…villagers were walking on. She got them to saf…safety, before the sun went down, and every villager thanked her and then went to their homes to get sleep."

Yang grinned. "You read really well, Snowflake! I am so proud of you!"

Snowflake beamed, and closed the book, getting down from Yang's lap and playing with the other toys on the ground in the kids area. "Thanks Yangy, I'm proud of you too!"

Yang chuckled, not really sure why Snow would be proud of her but just nodding in acceptance anyways. Yang checked her phone, and there was still no message from Weiss. Weiss had left for her work around two, and it was getting towards four fifteen.

Yang remembered what her mom used to do with…with Ruby and her. When they read parts from a book really well, Summer would take them out for ice cream.

Yang smiled. "Hey Little White, are you allergic to anything?"

Snowflake stopped playing with the toys and looked up. "Mommy says I can't have too much candy cause it makes me 'bounce off the walls' but I don't remember doing any bouncing after eating lollipops."

Yang grinned. "All right; you want a smaller-ish ice cream cone? I think there is this one place a little ways away."

* * *

"Brain freeze!"

"You shouldn't have eaten it all so fastly, Yangy. Mommy said brain freezes always happen if you don't take your time."

Yang winced at the freezing sensation in her mouth from the ice cream. Through squinted eyes, the blonde firefighter half-glared at Snowflake. "It will melt faster if you wait though." She countered.

Snowflake grinned at Yang and swung her feet happily. A little too happily… "It's a risk you have to take."

Yang laughed at that. "Little White, you are something else, you know that? You're cooler than most adults I know."

The white haired girl sat up a little straighter and grinned. "Thanks, Yangy…" Her eyes were filled with pride.

Yang was going to say something when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

" **Yang? Where are you?"**

"And why should I answer that?" Yang asked, feeling as if the voice sounded familiar…

" **Because you're watching my daughter."**

"Weiss! It's you!"

" **Who else did you think was calling?"**

"…Uh a stalker or something?"

" **Dolt… Tell me where you are so I can pick Snow up; if you drove your car there is no telling if you'll get back home."**

"Hey! It's a little used, but it's reliable!"

" **Yang."**

"…We're at Dairy Delight, a block West of Main Street. Can't miss Snow's hair."

" **All right; I'll be there in about five minutes."**

"By-" Yang sighed. "Man, is your mom always in a rush?"

Snowflake nodded, nursing her ice cream cone. Taking that risk of it melting. "Yeah, she's been working hard lately. I think she misses our house. I miss it too."

Yang frowned. "Sorry, Little White… A house burning down is never fun."

Snowflake perked up. "Did your house burn down too?"

Yang closed her eyes for a couple seconds, to hide her pain. "Yeah…it was a long time ago though. But I know how it feels."

Snowflake reached her hand towards Yang's and patted it. "It's okay, Yangy…"

Yang stared at Snowflake for a spell. Here she was trying to comfort Snowflake, and Snow was comforting her.

Yang gently held Snow's hand. "Thanks, Little White."

Yang suddenly felt like someone was watching her, and she turned around to see Weiss holding up her phone, taking a picture.

"I think I was perfectly okay in assuming you were a stalker, Ice Queen."

* * *

After Weiss was done living up to her nickname 'Ice Queen' and glaring ice daggers at Yang, she escorted Snowflake to her car, Yang's babysitting job done. Snowflake broke free from Weiss and rushed at Yang with her signature 'attack hug'.

"Oomph!"

"I don't want you to go, Yangy." Snowflake mumbled. She looked up at Yang, her bright blue eyes brimming with tears.

There was no surviving the look. "Well…I'm not doing anything right now…"

Yang glanced up at Weiss, who smirked. "Nobody has been able to resist the look so far. Come on."

She headed around to the driver's side and got in, motioning for Yang and Snow to get in.

"Wheeee! Yangy is coming with us!"

Snow climbed in the backseat and was virtually hopping up and down from happiness. Yang grinned and climbed in the passenger seat.

"Glad to have someone appreciate my company, Little White."

Weiss was going to say something, but right then Yang's pager went off. Holding up a hand during the beeping, Yang turned the volume up on her pager.

"Will all on-duty firefighters please head to 863 Willow Eve's street, for a house fire. Fire is spreading to nearby residents; time is important. There is statements saying the main house on fire still has a resident inside. Will all available firefighters head to their respective stations to assist on-duty firefighters any way they can. I repeat-"

Yang glanced at Weiss, but Weiss was already pulling out of the parking space. "Where is the station?" Weiss asked.

Yang pointed left. "Go left at the light, and when you get to 6th turn right. Station is on the right about five blocks down."

Weiss nodded. Snow was silently fangirling.

"Are you going to go be a hero?!" Okay, so not-so-silent fangirling.

Yang nodded. "Yeah, sorry Snow, but I got to go to work now so I can't go with you guys."

Snow nodded. "It's okay. You gotta be a hero to others like you were for us!"

Weiss turned down 6th and spotted the station. Fire trucks were pulling out of the garage, and Weiss spotted more firefighters inside.

"All right just park in this alley so you don't block the trucks, okay?" Yang said. Weiss quickly parked and Yang hopped out.

"Hey, thanks for letting me watch Snow; we had an awesome time hanging out. Don't hesitate to ask me again! Bye!"

Yang shut the door and ran towards the station, her face set in seriousness.

Weiss didn't know why, but Yang was becoming more and more interesting every time she saw her…

"Don't worry Snow; you'll get to hang out with Yang soon. I'm sure of it."

* * *

 **A/N: WOW this chapter kicked my butt! Anyway, Merry late Christmas to you peoples! Like a couple days late but better late than never!**

 **Thank you guys for sticking with me so far; you are awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


	7. Chapter 6

_**Backdraft Chapter 6**_

* * *

Yang ran into the fire station, looking around for a Captain.

"Lieutenant Xiao Long! Over here!" A voice from Yang's left shouted.

Yang quickly spotted Pyrrha, who wasn't in full turnout gear but pointing out other geared firefighters to different trucks.

Rushing over, Yang nodded. "Captain. What do you need me to do?"

Pyrrha was looking stressed, but she still was keeping calm and assertive, knowing exactly what to do.

"Yang, I need you to get in your gear ASAP and head out on Truck 2 to the fire. The rest of Unit 5 is there already. A lot of houses are going to be burned down if we don't stop this right where it's at. Don't let the fire advance any further. You're going to lead your unit and some backup firefighters if they are available. I'm needed here. Go!"

Yang was already on the move to where her turnout gear was. Quickly stepping in her pants and boots, Yang pulled up her suspenders and threw on her coat. Making sure the tanks were filled and it was working properly, Yang strapped on her SCBA and slapped her helmet onto her head. Grabbing her gloves, she ran outside where Truck 2 was waiting for her and another firefighter.

Climbing up, Yang and the other firefighter quickly got in; and they were off before the doors were even shut. Yang pulled on her fire hood and placed the SCBA mask on her head. She didn't want to use it yet, because you needed as much air as you could in a fire.

Pulling on her gloves, Yang glanced to her right; where that other firefighter was. He was a fairly taller man with dark brown hair.

He glanced back and held out a gloved hand in a fist. Yang grinned and gave him a fist bump. "Good luck, man."

"You too, Blondie."

* * *

Truck 2 stopped next to where the fire started, which was a house -or what was left of one. Yang spotted Jaune and Nora, so she hopped out.

"Hey! Guys!"

Nora glanced back and waved. "Yang thank Oum you're here! Is Pyrrha with you?"

Yang shook her head. "No, she's staying at the station to coordinate fire teams there. Give me the low-down; what have we got here?"

Jaune wiped his face of sweat and sighed. "The fire started here, and the occupant was unlucky. He didn't make it out in time; we got what was left of him out. The fire spread left and right to the neighboring houses. Luckily by that time they had all gotten out. So the immediate houses are basically toast, no pun intended. We are trying to keep them contained. This house we just gotten mostly put out but that's only because there is basically nothing else left to burn."

Yang nodded. Spotting another Lieutenant and a Captain talking, Yang hurried over. "All right, guys tell me where us three can be of most use. That house to the far right seems to be burning hot, we can help the people there keep it contained."

The Captain nodded, looking tired. "That would be great; Unit 2 could really use your help over there. Hustle!"

Yang nodded and waved Nora and Jaune over to the far house. "Come on guys!"

The Captain and Lieutenant were talking to three other firefighters and waving them far right. Yang felt at least a bit better, knowing that with so many firefighters here they could keep it contained.

Reaching the far house, Yang saw that four firefighters were trying to keep the one side of the neighboring house to the hot-burning fire from catching fire. Catching the attention of the Captain of Unit 2, Yang had to speak up over the loud commotion going on so he could hear her.

"Hey! I'm Lieutenant Xiao Long, this is FEO Valkyrie and Firefighter Arc, Unit 5. Tell us where you need us!"

The Captain nodded thankfully. "Captain Boran. Man I'm glad you three showed up. We have been trying to keep this house safe; but that fire-" He pointed to the fully engulfed house to the left. "That fire has been kicking our ass. We need to stay on our house; can you make sure that this fire doesn't spread anywhere. Contain. Let it burn; it's gone. But keep it contained!"

Yang nodded. "Got it, Boran." She turned to Nora and Jaune, who had already moved a truck over and were attaching a hose. Yang smiled a bit, _"Pyrrha would be proud…"_

"All right guys. Contain, that's our priority. This is our baby and we gotta let it burn without burning down anything else. Got it?" Nora and Jaune nodded, both of their faces set in determination. "Nora! I want you on the hose; try to keep what you see catching fire to not catch fire. Jaune! I need you to keep circling the perimeter of the house; if something starts to catch fire and an extinguisher can stop it; use it. If not; get Nora over there. I'm going to be hooking up another hose and manning that towards the back. You know your jobs?"

Jaune nodded and Nora gave a gloved thumbs up. "Break!" Yang clapped her hands and the three of them slipped on their face masks and strapped on their helmets.

Yang made radio checks, and once they made sure they worked, Unit 5 hurried off to their jobs.

Jaune hurried to the truck Nora had parked and grabbed an extinguisher from it.

Nora, having already connected a hose to the truck, made sure the pressure was correct and turned on the hose.

Yang grabbed another longer hose and spotted a fire hydrant across the street. There were police cars keeping people away from the fire and out of the way of the trucks. The usual media vans and reporters getting as close as they could to the fire. One camera swiveled towards Yang as she started hooking up the hose to the hydrant, and Yang smirked through her face mask. _"Guess I'll be on the news…"_

* * *

"Mommy mommy look! Yangy is on the news!" Snowflake ran into the kitchen, where Weiss was making dinner. At that, Weiss looked up. "What?"

Snowflake grabbed her hand and led her back into the living room and pointed at the TV. "Look she's talking to some firefighters!"

Sure enough, Yang could be seen talking to a shorter blonde haired male firefighter and an orange haired female firefighter in front of a house that was very much so on fire. They all put on their breathing masks and strapped on their helmets, each going their separate ways.

Yang hurried over to the fire truck and grabbed a hose. The reporters voice could be heard off screen. "As you can see; many firefighters are here trying to keep the fire contained from any more houses. There has been one reported death, but luckily that appears to be the only case. Other occupants have been reported safe beyond the fire barrier; watching their homes being burned down surely can't be easy for them."

The camera followed Yang as she ran to a hydrant and started connecting the hose to it.

"These brave firefighters are working hard to ensure that nobody else's homes are destroyed."

Snowflake bounced up and down on the couch. "Told you told you told you! Yang is a hero!"

She cheered, applauding Yang.

Weiss smiled at Snowflake's adorableness, but she couldn't help but feel slightly afraid for Yang. The house fire she was currently spraying with a powerful blast of water seemed to be very hot…

* * *

Jaune grabbed his radio and radioed Nora through their Unit's channel. **"Nora; the backyard fence by the house caught fire!"**

" **My hose can't reach that far! Get Yang!"**

Yang radioed in. **"Got it guys I'm heading back there**!" Yang shut off the hose and quickly dragged it over to the backyard.

But when she got there, she spotted something Jaune must have missed from his side of the fence. A gas container. And it was currently surrounded by flames.

Yang ran back with her hose and waved to another firefighter. "Hey! We got a gas tank back here! It's getting pretty hot; I say we back up that line of people and reporters."

A cop who heard them nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile the news camera caught a cop rushing over. He started waving people back. "Get back! There seems to be an unstable natural gas container in the backyard that could explode; please for your own safety move back!"

Weiss gasped. _"Yang was just in that backyard…"_ She couldn't deny that suddenly she was worried a lot for the kind blonde.

"Come on, Yang…"

* * *

"Jaune, get away from the backyard! Nora, keep the front contained!"

Yang dropped the hose and rushed to Boran, the Unit 2's Captain. "Boran! Gas tank in the backyard; be advised it could explode at any mom-"

Suddenly, a big explosion could be heard and seen coming from the backyard. Smoke and fire exploded high into the air. All the gas inside the container ignited; throwing shrapnel of it everywhere. Jaune was thrown to the ground from the explosion, and Nora barely kept standing. Yang and Boran mostly stood their ground, but shrapnel pieces were falling to the ground everywhere.

"Watch the sky for shrapnel, dammit!" Yang shouted, hear ears slightly ringing from the loud sound of the explosion.

She picked up the fire hose she had dropped earlier and turned it on, making her way to the backyard.

The spot the tank was in was just a pile of burning metal; and the fence was very much so on fire.

Yang focused on keeping the fire contained; dodging pieces of metal still falling from the sky occasionally.

* * *

The camera shook as an explosion shot flames high into the sky. Many people had been running away due to the warning the police officer gave the crowd, and the ones that had felt stupid or brave enough to stay no longer felt as brave and could be seen running down the street.

The reporter and camera man hurried away further from the scene and Weiss huffed in frustration. She wanted to see more of what happened dammit!

Snowflake gasped. "Mommy do you think Yangy is okay?"

Weiss shook her concentration on the TV and smiled at Snowflake. "Yes, honey, I'm sure Yang is perfectly fine."

But looking back at the television, Weiss sighed. _"If only I could believe that…perhaps I am worrying too much? Yang is a firefighter I'm sure she is fine!"_

* * *

 _ **Several hours later: back at the fire station**_

Tired firefighters slowly put away all the equipment and gear they had used, covered with ash and soot from the days work. Firefighters that Pyrrha had kept at the station in case they got another fire helped the exhausted men and women put their dirty gear in the laundry and refill SCBA tanks.

"Yang."

Yang blearily looked up at the red-haired woman standing in front of her. "Yeah Pyr?"

"I heard you did a good job out there keeping the fire contained despite the explosion. Proud of you."

Yang shook her head and pointed to Nora and Jaune, checking pressure on Truck 2. "Those two did great; I'm proud of them and so should you. I think Jaune might need a promotion soon or something. He got kicked by the explosion pretty good."

Pyrrha nodded. "Of course. But, you three look like you might fall over any minute now. All of you get some showers and get a nap. Go to bed if you want it's around eight thirty anyways."

Yang nodded. "Thanks so much Pyrrha…"

She stood up and nodded to Jaune and Nora. "All right guys, Pyrrha said we can shower and sleep and I for one am going to take up on that offer. You?"

Nora stretched her arms above her head and nodded. "I am going to sleep hard as a rock; I'm game."

Jaune yawned and went to stretch his right arm out, but winced. "I…I guess so." He was still wearing his turnout gear, and he rubbed his arm.

Yang narrowed her eyes. "Jaune. Arm. Now." Jaune confusedly held out his left arm. "No, the other arm, dumbass." Yang rolled her eyes.

Jaune held it out, wincing a bit. Yang spotted a bit of red on the outside of the sleeve and she frowned. "Nora help me get off his jacket; Jaune, don't move."

They carefully slipped his jacket off, and Nora widened her eyes at what she saw. "Oooh that's gotta hurt a bit."

Yang nodded. "Jaune why didn't you tell us you got hit by shrapnel?"

Jaune looked confused. "I thought my arm was just sore; I didn't know…"

There was a piece of metal from the gas tank sticking into Jaune's arm.

"All right rookie; you're heading to the hospital." Yang said. She waved Pyrrha over. "Jaune got hurt by some shrapnel it looks like. I'm too tired to drive him there; you think you could?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes! Oh my Oum, Jaune get your ass into the car right now." She led him off to where her car was parked.

Nora sighed. "Hopefully it didn't hit anything important."

Yang hummed in agreement. "Now, I'm really touched and all by how one of our own got hurt…but I'm ready to take a shower and sleep."

"Agreed, Blondie."

"You'know, I got called Blondie today by some firefighter I didn't recognize."

"Really? ….Was he cute?"

"Eh, I guess. I didn't think about it much." Yang shrugged.

"You got your eye on someone else? Is it me?!" Nora playfully bumped into Yang.

"Ew no way!"

Nora stopped in her tracks at the foot of the stairs leading to the sleeping quarters and the shower area. "EW NO WAY?! YOU GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" She ran up the stairs after a laughing Yang, who had already started running.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, well, well…look who decided to update finally. Me, that's who. Cause I'm horrible at updating I thought about making this chapter really long, I know this chapter is a bit short, but I think I'll post another chapter this Saturday hopefully. Thanks for reading!**

 **Oh and thanks to Fennec9 for a kind review they left; and getting my sorry butt motivated. Thanks!**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


	8. Chapter 7

_**Backdraft Chapter 7**_

* * *

Yang yawned and blearily gazed around her room. Her normally clean bedroom in the station was currently cluttered with dirty clothes and random firefighter gear.

Groaning and rolling over, Yang closed her eyes. Maybe if she couldn't see the mess it would go away…

 **Buzz**

Apparently not…

Sighing, Yang probed around for her phone on her bedside table, her eyes still closed. Finding the familiar shape of her phone, Yang cracked an eye to see who had sent her a text. It was Weiss.

 **W: "Yang, Snowflake has been asking me all day yesterday if you were okay. First thing she asked me this morning. Please answer soon so I don't have to possibly lie. You are okay, right?"**

Yang grinned, feeling more awake already. Sitting up on her elbows, Yang typed in a reply.

 **Y: "Aw, you don't have to lie, I know you were worried about me too ;)"**

Not even three seconds later and Yang got another notification.

 **W: "You dolt! Shut up and answer!"**

The blonde-haired firefighter laughed.

 **Y: "Don't worry; you can tell Little White that I am perfectly fine. I'm tired as hell, but I'm okay."**

Yang felt honored that Weiss and Snow were worried about her, but that made her think about Jaune and the shrapnel.

" _I wonder if he's okay…"_

Suddenly feeling worried herself, Yang sent a message to Pyrrha.

 **Y: "Hey Pie, is Jaune doing okay? Still in the hospital?"**

Yang stared at her phone hoping to get a quick reply. Yang saw that Pyrrha was typing, and she held her breath.

 **P: "I'm going to ignore the fact that you called me 'pie' and say yeah, Jaune is still in the hospital. His arm is fine, but he passed out from exhaustion. Still sleeping. Doctors are letting him take his time to rest."**

Releasing the breath she had been holding, Yang sighed in relief. _"Thank Oum…"_

 **Y: "I'm going to say 'you totally didn't ignore it cause you mentioned it'. But anyway, I'm going to wake up, clean my room and then head over there. Think he'll still be there in an hour or so?"**

 **P: "If I have any say, then yes. Don't be too long. He can be stubborn as hell sometimes."**

 **Y: "KK. See you in a bit, Pie. ;)"**

Chuckling at how Pyrrha must be currently glaring in Yang's direction right now, Yang hopped out of bed. Stretching, her muscles protesting her movements, Yang sighed. _"Maybe a quick shower first…then cleaning…"_

Picking up her phone, Yang saw that Weiss had messaged her.

 **W: "Snowflake is now asking to see 'Hero Yangy!' and I seriously find myself having trouble making excuses as to why not. What plans do you have today?"**

Yang smiled wide, even though the familiar nickname Snow had adopted for Yang had been one that…Ruby…used to say, made her smile falter before she smiled wide again.

 **Y: "Actually, in about 45 minutes to an hour I got to be at the hospital. Think you can find the station again to give me a ride? I just gotta check in with Jaune; then Snowflake can take 'Hero Yangy' anywhere she wants."**

Tossing the phone onto her bed, Yang grabbed a set of clean clothes; standard green pants and a white t-shirt, her work clothes.

Quickly taking a hot shower but longing to stay in the relaxing water forever, Yang reluctantly dried off and slipped into the clothes she set aside.

Strapping on her belt and clipping on her pager, Yang made sure her hair looked somewhat presentable before grabbing her phone from the bed.

Weiss had said that she could give Yang a ride and would be there around 10:30. It was about 10:15.

Yang sighed. "Time to clean I guess…"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Yang's bedroom was clean as a whistle. Having made sure she brushed her teeth, Yang checked her phone on the way down the stairs.

 **W: "Yang, we are almost there. I'm going to park in the alley where we dropped you off last time."**

Fixing her collar, Yang bumped into Nora as she stepped off the last stair.

"Oh sorry Nora!" Yang apologized.

Nora shrugged. "It's cool, bro. Hey where you going that's got you so distracted? Does it have anything to do with your strange lover who apparently is 'Ew no way' not me?" To people who didn't know her as well as Yang, Nora would have seemed very upset.

But Yang saw that sparkly glint in Nora's dark blue eyes.

Yang shrugged. "Maybe…"

Nora's jaw dropped. "Oh my god it does…"

Yang shrugged again, her face turning a slight shade of pink. "Maybe it does maybe it doesn't. Either way; I'm late."

She brushed past Nora, a small smirk making its way onto her face. Ignoring Nora's threats of bodily harm if she didn't tell her, Yang headed out the man-door in the bay and made her way to the alley where Weiss had dropped her off yesterday.

* * *

Seeing Weiss' white car waiting for her, Yang smiled at the white-haired girl bouncing up and down in the backseat.

"Hero Yangy you're okay!" Snowflake said, having rolled down the window and practically leaning out of it to smile as wide as possible at Yang.

Yang laughed, grinning wide at the adorable high-energy girl. "Yup; I'm okay, Little White."

The firefighter walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. "Hey Weiss is it okay if I sit here?" Yang leaned down, glancing to make sure Weiss was okay with it.

Weiss looked at her with a blank expression. "No, Yang; you have to sit on the roof." Silence followed her statement; Yang for a moment stopped in surprise.

"You…you made a joke…" Yang grinned and sat down in the passenger seat. "I knew you weren't going to be an Ice Queen forever!"

Weiss glared at Yang, opening her mouth to say something when laughter erupted in the backseat.

"Hahaha mommy Yang called you an Ice Queen! That's funny!" Snowflake was absolutely tickled by this for some reason, and Weiss sighed, knowing that Snow would never let her live it down.

* * *

"Yeah, park here; I just gotta check in with the doctors and Pyrrha, say "Get well soon" and then I'll be right back. There is a playground right over to the left." Yang pointed it out, quickly unbuckling.

Weiss nodded. "All right then. I hope your friend is okay." She glanced at Yang's expression, hoping to see how bad her friend's injury(s) were. Yang flashed a wide smile, and her bright lilac eyes shone with a sparkle in them.

"Yeah, he'll be all right. His nerves might be a bit damaged from the shrapnel, but he's okay." She gave a reassuring smile to Weiss, as if Weiss was the one needing to be reassured, before quickly heading off towards the entrance of the hospital.

Weiss watched her go, a small smile on her face. Yang never ceased to amaze her…

"Mommy can I go play?"

Weiss looked down to Snow, who was hopping up and down; gazing longingly at the park. Weiss smiled. "All right, Snow. Stay in sight, okay?"

Snowflake nodded, her white hair bobbing with her. "Got it mom!" She rushed towards the park, grinning wide.

* * *

Weiss sat down at a nearby park bench, getting out her phone and checking her social media.

While her family may be filthy rich, Weiss knew that they fully intended her to solve her current financial problems all by herself. (Her current financial problems being that she had to buy brand new everything.) Almost everything they owned had burned up in the fire. The firefighters had saved her garage; and that held her car and some useful camping equipment. Snow and Weiss had been eating out of camping equipment and cheap plastic for a while now.

Weiss sighed, setting her phone down so she could rub her temples from a migraine she was starting to get.

"You doing okay, Weiss?" A concerned voice said. Weiss looked up and was greeted by an equally concerned pair of lilac eyes.

Weiss waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah; I'm okay. Just tired. But what about your friend? Is he doing okay?"

Yang sat down next to Weiss and sighed. "Yeah, he's doing well. His arm is going to be functioning in a week, able to work in two, and fully healed in about a month."

They both sat in silence, watching Snowflake play with another young girl her age. The girl had black hair, gold/brown eyes and seemed to be almost playing an odd version of hide n' seek with Snow.

Yang chuckled. "Snowflake is amazing…"

Weiss nodded. "Yeah, she really is getting bigger. And smarter." She smiled fondly out at her daughter, and Yang had to ask.

"Hey…I really mean no offense, and I get if you don't want to answer…but. Where is Snowflake's dad?"

Weiss exhaled. "It's a long story…"

Yang leaned back on the bench. "I can wait. It's no trouble."

Weiss nodded. "All right…well first off I should say that I'm not her birth mother. Her birth mother was my sister…Winter…" Weiss got a painful look in her eyes that Yang recognized.

"I'm sorry…" Yang internally winced. Other people saying 'I'm sorry' never really did anything.

Weiss just silently nodded again. "Winter married a nice man named Mark, and a couple years later they had Snowflake. Snowflake was only around 3 when it happened. Fire. Much like the one that burned down my house. Both Winter and Mark died in that fire, with Snowflake only surviving by mere luck. I had always been very close to Snowflake, and in her will, Winter had asked if I was able, that I was to adopt Snowflake. I didn't think twice. I adopted her as fast as I could and have been raising her as my daughter ever since."

Yang took a few moments to let everything sink in. No wonder Weiss had seemed to be hysteric when Yang had first run into the house to save Snowflake. Weiss had seen it before, with her sister and brother-in-law.

Yang breathed out a long sigh. "That is really brave of you; to take on raising a child."

Weiss looked over at Yang, who smiled at her. How Yang could smile so encouragingly and comforting, Weiss had no idea.

"Mommy look! Oh, hi Yang!" Yang and Weiss looked over to see Snowflake holding hands with the dark-haired girl she was playing with earlier.

"Mommy this is my new friend Kateia! I call her Kat though cause it's fun. Like, 'cat' but with a 'k'!"

Kateia shyly waved with a thin arm, her other arm protectively holding a book. Weiss smiled softly. "Hello Kateia; thanks for playing with Snowflake, she really enjoys playing at parks."

Kat only had time to wave and offer a small smile before Snowflake had pulled her off to play something else.

Yang chuckled. "I think those two are going to make fast friends…"

Weiss laughed. "I agree…"

Yang enjoyed the sound of Weiss' laughter. It made her heart feel happy for some reason. Yang went to say something when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

" **Yang, this is Coco. I am totally not supposed to do this but since you've taken an interest in it and I know you'll just find some way to learn anyhow, I figured I'd get you up to speed on Weiss Schnee's arson case."**

Yang glanced at Weiss, her eyes betraying what she was talking about. "Thanks Coco, this means a lot. Thank you."

Coco sighed on the other end. **"Don't thank me, I have bad news. Weiss Schnee, a very good lawyer and attorney, has an important case that is currently taking a lot longer to deal with than normal. One of her important clients has a witness, and that witness died in that house fire yesterday you responded to."**

Yang opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Speechless.

This was an interesting develop to say the least…

" **Yang?"**

"Yeah yeah; I'm here. I just…don't know what to say. Do you know anything about who might have started these fires?"

" **No, Yang, or else I would be telling you who did it. I have to go, but I figured you'd want to know."**

"Thanks Coco. I owe you one."

" **Talk to you later."**

Yang slowly lowered her phone, staring at it as if it would hold the answers she so desperately wanted.

"Yang?"

The blonde looked up, seeing Weiss' brow furrowed in concern. "Yeah?"

"Who was that? You okay? You look rather distressed."

Yang sighed. "Coco. Leader of Unit 6. FAU. Or FIU. Fire Investigation Unit. She called about more info about your arson case."

Weiss obviously did not expect to hear that, because she froze. "More information…what…what's that information?"

Yang ran a hand through her short blonde hair, bowing out a sigh. "Well. It's a long story."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Well, as I have been told before; I can wait. It's no trouble."

Yang quirked an eyebrow. "Touché." She gazed out at the playground, seeing Snowflake standing on top of a mound of wood chips; hands on her hips and looking victorious. Until Kateia tackled her to the ground. Snowflake quickly shook off Kat, and raced around to the swing set.

Weiss and Yang shared a small smile at the young girls' antics.

"All right." Yang said, her hands running through her hair again. "Your house fire, has been confirmed to be arson. That fire that I went to yesterday is also arson. And my friend Coco thinks that the two fires are connected."

Weiss frowned. "Why does she think they are connected?"

"Because the man who died in that fire is a critical witness for one of your clients. I don't know who that would be, and I don't know why a witness would be killed." Yang stated.

Weiss covered her mouth with her hand. "No…that…that can't be. I NEED that witness…" She rubbed her temple again with her other hand. _"I for sure have a migraine now…"_

Yang gently placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Hey. I don't know everything about your case, or if you're defending someone or accusing, but either way. I'll help any way I can."

Weiss suddenly looked up. "If…if they tried to kill me in that arson fire but failed, then they must have tried to stop me from finishing that case by killing a critical witness. Which means…if I figure out a way to go on without that witness…then I might be in danger. Snowflake might be in danger!"

The worried defense attorney and mother glanced out into the park where Snow was playing and sighed. "This is insane."

Yang frowned. "I know some people at the police station. I could pull a few strings; maybe get them to have more patrols by your house and work or something?"

Weiss glanced over at Yang, a hopeful expression on her face. "Are you sure?"

Yang nodded, feeling more confident. "Yeah, of course! You'll have to go to the station and stuff so that Ren can give his own opinion. He relies on his gut instinct on people; and he's always been right so far."

Weiss couldn't believe it. Yang had saved Snow once already and was willing to do it again. Or at least, help make sure Snowflake was protected.

"We could head to the station today; Ren is working until eight tonight. We have time; he's probably on lunch break right now so now's not the best time."

Weiss felt her eyes start to get a bit misty. "Thank you, Yang…you are a nice person to do this for us."

Yang grinned, her lilac eyes shining bright. "Don't mention it. I'd do anything for you two. Speaking of which… You want to go get some lunch? I'm starving."

Weiss glanced at her phone and noticed that it was a little past noon. "Well…what about this whole arson thing? Shouldn't we head straight for the station though?"

Yang shook her head. "No, until they know if you can continue without that witness you're probably safe at least until this afternoon. But either way; you're going to have to get some food eventually."

Weiss paused, looking over at Snowflake; who had no idea the situation that was currently going on. "Well…"

"I'll pay." Yang put in.

Weiss smirked. "I would hope so, what with all this convincing. If we can extract Snowflake from the park, then we are good to go."

Yang nodded. "I'll talk to her." She gave a reassuring smile to Weiss before standing up and heading over to where Snowflake and Kateia were still playing.

* * *

"If you really did jump off the swings going that fast you would definitely hurt yourself." Kat stated.

Snowflake huffed. "No way! I'll just tuck in and roll when I hit the ground; I'll be fine."

"Can someone explain to me why we think it's a good idea to jump off the swings going at what appears to be dangerous speeds?"

Kateia crossed her arms. "I don't. Snow does."

Snowflake huffed again. "Come on; it's just a bit of wood chips. Not like it's concrete I'm landing on."

Yang quirked her brow. Snowflake sure seemed to be growing up…and becoming a rebel it would seem. Crouching down besides Snowflake, Yang sighed.

"Do you know how many kids injure themselves trying to do things in a park they probably shouldn't?"

Snowflake and Kateia shook their heads.

"Well. I've helped at least five kids get to the hospital, and all of them had some form of broken bone. Now Snowflake, we really don't need to go crazy on the swings; or else you might have a broken bone. Those things hurt; and the cast they put on really stinks. It itches like crazy."

Snowflake looked up at her. "Did…did you break a bone once?"

Yang waved a hand. "A long time ago I did, and let me tell you. It was not fun. So take it from me; let's just play safe on the playground, all right?"

Snowflake and Kateia nodded. "Okay!"

Snowflake went to go towards the slide when Yang held up a hand. "Wait! Snowflake, it's lunch time. We're going to go get some food, so say goodbye to Kateia!"

Yang stood up while the two young girls said their goodbye, promising they'd see each other again.

The blonde firefighter grinned. _"So cute…"_

Snowflake ran up to Yang's side and slid her smaller hand into Yang's toughened one. "Where are we going to eat, Yangy?"

Yang smiled down at the adorable ball of snow currently holding her hand. "I'm not sure; let's ask your mom."

They both looked over to Weiss, who was putting her phone away, clearly just having taken a picture of Snow and Yang.

"So, where are we eating, Ice Queen?"

Weiss face-palmed. "Just once could you consider not calling me that?"

Snowflake frowned. "But why, mom? She called you a queen!"

No matter what Weiss did, Yang didn't stop laughing until they reached the car.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks guys for sticking with me and waiting for my slow ass self to get my butt in gear and write! You all are awesome! Have an awesome day!**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


	9. Chapter 8

_**Backdraft Chapter 8**_

* * *

Lunch was interesting to say the least. Snowflake was still unaware that there were people out there who wanted Weiss dead and had tried to make that happen. Weiss was nervous, as would anyone. Yang was feeling oddly protective of Snowflake and Weiss, and had been keeping an eye on everyone in their close vicinity.

"Mom you're acting strange; are you getting sick?" Snowflake asked, after she was done devouring her food.

Weis sighed. Snow was sharp; she'd have noticed something was wrong sooner or later. "Well honey, you remember our house; how it burned down?"

Snow looked sad at first, but then grinned up at Yang sitting across the table. "Yeah! Cause that's when Yang saved me and was a superhero!"

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at how Snowflake thought so highly of her.

Weiss smiled a bit. "Yeah, she is a hero." This time, Yang felt her face heat up a bit at the praise for some odd reason…

"But Snowflake, the fire, it was set on purpose by some bad person." Weiss figured the best way to get to Snowflake was head on; not sugar coated. That's the kind of person Snow was, and she deserved to know why their house had burned down.

Snow got a sad look on her face. "You mean…our house went bye-bye cause someone bad burned it down on purpose?"

Weiss nodded. Yang gently placed a hand on Snow's. "Yes, Snow; that's exactly what she means. It's very sad, and that's okay to feel sad. But don't give up hope. We're going to find who did it and make sure they know how sad we are about what they did."

Snowflake looked up at Yang and smiled, her ice blue eyes shimmering with tears. "Thanks Yangy…you're the best…" She got up and tightly hugged Yang.

Yang hugged her back, and couldn't help but feel an intense desire to find whoever had made this angel cry. And make them pay a hundred times over.

* * *

Yang checked her watch. "Well, I think Ren is off break now and back working at the station. Now would be a good time to get there."

Weiss nodded, and they cleaned up their table of trash and made their way to the station.

"So Yang," Weiss started. "How do you know this Ren person?"

Yang suddenly got a very bashful look on her face and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well…I may or may not have gotten a bit too drunk at this one bar and wouldn't leave. Ren was in the area and responded to the owner of the bar. On the drive back to the jail, we kind of bonded over something. Still not quite sure what it was; since I totally forgot what happened that night other than getting into the squad car."

Weiss glanced over at Yang with a baffled look. "So. A cop arrests you for the night because you're drunk…and you become friends?"

Yang grinned wide, her eyes sparkling. "Yeah; crazy how life works, huh?"

Snowflake looked very confused. "Why did you get arrested if you drunk? Did you have too much water or juice?"

Yang held back a laugh, while Weiss glanced towards the sky. "Oh my Oum…"

…

After a talk about alcohol and how you should never drink any until you're old enough and have friends to take care of you so you don't go to jail, Weiss, Snow and Yang headed inside the police station.

The lady inside obviously knew Yang, because she grinned upon seeing the blonde firefighter. "Heya Yang; what's up?"

Yang nodded. "Hi Jade. Actually; I was wondering if I could talk to Ren? It's very important I talk with him as soon as possible."

The lady, Jade, became very serious. "Of course. He's talking with someone right now; you can head into the waiting room on the left and as soon as he's done I'll make sure he talks to you."

Yang smiled. "Thanks Jade; you're great help as always." Jade smiled wide and waved to Snowflake when she passed by.

Yang led the way to the waiting room, holding the door open for Weiss and Snow.

Weiss noticed this waiting room was empty, and there was a small shelf in the corner with toys and drawing supplies for children.

Knowing it would only be a matter of time before Snow noticed as well, Weiss pointed to the shelf. "You can play with the toys or draw; whatever you'd like. Just don't get too loud."

Snowflake immediately grabbed a coloring book and some crayons; setting up on the coffee table and starting to draw. Yang noted how well-mannered Snowflake was and smiled.

Weiss set her purse on the couch, but didn't sit down. She paced back and forth, looking worried.

Yang, after watching in silence for a minute or so, stepped in her path and grabbed her hands. "Weiss."

Weiss stopped and looked at her hands encompassed by the slightly larger firefighters hands.

The white haired woman couldn't help but notice all the scars from cuts and scrapes on Yang's hands. On Yang's right hand was a large burn scar that led all the way to her elbow, where it tapered off.

Weiss glanced up at Yang, suddenly very curious about the story behind her scar, only to find Yang staring at her with worry filled in her lilac eyes.

"Weiss, it's going to be okay." Yang stated. "Come and sit down; relax for a little bit."

Weiss just nodded. "All right…" She sat down on the couch next to her purse.

Yang was concerned about her. Always had been. Maybe a bit more than most people…

Weiss furrowed her brow, but her thinking was interrupted by someone stepping inside the waiting room.

It was a tall, slim, police officer. He had short black hair with one pink highlight on the side of his head. He seemed to be of Asian descent.

"Yang; you got some nerve coming back here after what you did…"

Yang frowned, letting Weiss' hands go and standing up. "What…what did I do?"

Ren stepped right next to Yang and leaned down. "You should know…"

He waited for about three deathly quiet seconds before standing back up straight and looking to be very calm. "Thanks for the present you got me, Yang. Was very nice."

Yang blew out a breath. "Haha…thanks?"

Ren gave a small grin. "Now. Jade tells me there is something serious you want to talk to me about?"

Yang nodded, motioning to Weiss, who stood up. "Yes; this is Weiss Schnee, and her daughter Snowflake." Yang nodded towards Snow, who was still drawing.

Ren held out and hand towards Weiss. "Pleasure to meet you." He gave a small bow when Weiss shook his hand.

"Weiss and I believe that she has reason to be concerned for her and her daughters safety." Yang stated.

Ren instantly got a serious look on his face. "Why do you both think this?" He whipped out a small notepad and pen; poised to write things down.

"Well…"

* * *

Ren jotted a few more things down on his notepad before looking over at Weiss and Yang who had since sat down on the couch.

"This is very interesting…" He went back over his notes.

Yang had told him everything, about how Weiss was working with a client and he was an important witness to put a thief and criminal in prison for a long time, to how they thought another attack to silence Weiss forever could very well be in the works, or be almost in the works.

Ren hummed thoughtfully. "If what you say is true…then this criminal must be important. Weiss; I know your case must be very confidential; but it would benefit all of us if you told me what criminal this is."

Weiss glanced over at Snowflake, who was drawing in the corner now. Ren nodded understandingly. "Well could you write whatever you'd like on this paper?" He slid his notebook across the coffee table.

Weiss quickly wrote out _Roman Torchwick, thief and criminal. Pretty sure he's head of a crime ring_ onto the notebook and slid it back.

Ren's eyes widened when he read the name. "I see now why you'd be concerned. Where do you live?"

"I live in apartment number 26 in Raven Wing Apartments on Raven Drive; south of town."

Ren nodded, looking pleased by this. "I can try to have two officers patrol by your house at night and three more during the day; starting hopefully tomorrow. They already swing by that area on their shift. The chief will want proof that you are in danger, but I think I can convince him. Plus the officers in that area owe me some favors…"

Yang blew out a relieved sigh. "Thank you Ren…"

Ren nodded. "Anything. A friend of Yang's is a friend of mine." He stood up. "Now, I hate to leave so quickly, but I have a car theft to work on."

Just then, Snowflake rushed over and laid her most recent drawing on the coffee table. It was a crude drawing of a police car with what was supposed to be Yang in the backseat, looking like she was in jail. In the front of the car was what can only be described as an angry version of Ren.

Yang stared. "Wow…I think she remembers more about that night we met than I do…"

Ren held back a chuckle. "You know what, Snowflake Schnee? I would like to have this drawing you made. How much?"

Snowflake put a hand to her chin, deep in thought. "Hmm…how about…10 Lien!"

Ren shook his head. "For this level of artistry; I'll give you 15."

Snowflake nodded and held out her hand. "Sold!"

Weiss and Yang watched the scene in total confusion. Snowflake seemed much too used to selling her art...

* * *

Weiss dropped Yang off at her house later when it was just getting dark, and after Yang pried Snowflake loose of her, Weiss headed back towards her home.

Unlocking her door, Yang stepped inside and turned on the light.

Her house seemed too empty after spending so much time with Weiss and Snow.

Sighing and tossing her keys on the counter, Yang was about to take her shoes off when she got a weird feeling. It was like a tug, in her chest, that told her to check on Weiss. That something bad was going to happen very soon. Yang couldn't describe it, but she just knew that Weiss needed her in person.

Snatching her keys off the counter and slipping on her riding jacket on the way out the door, Yang hopped onto Bumblebee; her trusted motorcycle. _"Please be okay and let this just be me overreacting and imagining things…"_ Yang thought to herself…

Internally chanting _"Please be okay, please be oka_ y" to herself, Yang broke several speed limits racing towards Weiss. Room 26, Raven Wing Apartments on Raven Drive.

Pulling up in a hurry, Yang spotted the apartment complex that belonged to Weiss.

Parking her bike and shutting off the engine, Yang looked around; super alert for anything out of the ordinary…

There were two dudes heading towards the other apartments, but Yang was pretty sure they were only maybe selling drugs. While bad, it wasn't worth looking into much further.

Looking around again, Yang could just barely make out two dark figures sneaking towards the stairwell that led up to Weiss' apartment.

They instantly seemed out of place, and up to no good. Yang got that tug in her chest again, and she knew. They needed stopped from whatever they were going to do.

Jumping off her bike, Yang sprinted up the stairs; her adrenaline made the trip seem like a short walk.

Arriving at Weiss's number, Yang saw two people in all black clothing and dark hoods huddling by Weiss's door.

Suddenly, the area around her door was illuminated in a bright orange glow.

" _Those bitches lit a fire!"_ Yang used her momentum from sprinting up the stairs to grab the one on the left and slam them into the wall. Outstretching her right hand, Yang instantly snuffed the fire and lit the ground underneath the right one on fire using her fire powers.

The dark figure, now definitely known as a male, shoved Yang back and swung a hard fist at her face before she could react.

The impact had her seeing stars, and she couldn't evade his follow-up kick to her ribs.

Grunting at the impact, Yang grabbed his leg before he could back away and yanked him off-balance. He hit the ground, and Yang quickly shoved him down the stairs.

Suddenly a hard impact to her nose had Yang herself off balance. The second figure got into a ready stance; obviously no stranger to fighting. They leapt forward with surprising strength and gave several quick punches.

Yang was no stranger to fighting either though; and this person; definitely a female, would regret it. Dodging the strikes with ease, Yang followed up with her own punches. The woman tried to dodge her strikes as well, but didn't anticipate Yang using the same arm again and so fast. Connecting hard enough for Yang to worry she broke something in her hand, Yang got a good strike in; mercilessly following up with a swift kick to her legs, dropping the woman. Her hood fell off, revealing a younger female with green hair and light brown eyes glaring with hate.

Yang stared back with her own hate, and was going to get back into a ready stance herself when her left leg suddenly was pulled at with significant force. Falling to the landing of the stairwell, Yang quickly rolled left, avoiding a kick to the head. Just as quickly grabbing the other figure's foot, Yang twisted; and upon hearing a satisfying snap and a loud cry, Yang jumped to her feet and tackled the female; the male out of fighting condition.

Rolling around, trading kicks and punches, Yang cried out as she felt the woman's teeth sink into her left arm. "Biting's not good sportsmanship!"Yang exclaimed. Kicking her away, Yang jumped to her feet again.

Looking around, she didn't see them. Glancing down, she spotted the female helping the male limp off into the darkness of the night and away from view.

Yang panted, her adrenaline finally starting to wear off. Grimacing and tasting blood, Yang knocked on Weiss's door.

"Go away, I called the police!" Yang could hear the fear in Weiss's voice.

"Weiss it's me…they're gone. It's safe now."

"Yang?!" Yang could see a shadow behind the door; Weiss obviously looking through the peephole. "Yang!"

Weiss unlocked the door and gasped at Yang. "Yang your face!"

Yang held a hand under her nose, feeling blood drip down. "Yeah…got me good… I think my face is as much proof as the police chief needs; you should call for a patrol."

* * *

"Ow!"

"Hold still!"

"Well it hurts!"

"Then hold still and it won't hurt as bad!"

"…"

"There. That's better." Weiss had finished cleaning up the blood from Yang's face, and handed her an ice pack. "Here, for the swelling."

Yang was currently sitting at Weiss's kitchen table, wincing as she held an ice pack to her eye. "Thanks Weiss…"

After Yang drove off the two arsonists, the police cars Ren had sent to check up on them were only minutes away and responded quickly. Sadly, the male and female arsonists had gotten away and the police didn't seem to have any more leads beyond the description Yang had given them of the female.

After checking to make sure the fire wouldn't start again, the chief had two undercover police officers patrolling around the perimeter of Weiss' apartment. The threat of them attacking again was very low, but Weiss and Yang were still going to bed late because of how stressed they both were. Also Yang was in too much pain to fall asleep; the painkillers hadn't kicked in yet.

The firefighter sighed and looked at the ground.

Weiss furrowed her brow. Yang looked to be in a lot of pain. "Yang, do you want me to take you to a doctor?"

Yang instantly sat up straight. "Nope; I'm all good. Just need to get home and rest." She went to stand up, wincing and holding her side.

"Yang no, you can't ride home in your condition. Stay the night; we have a big couch. You saved both mine and Snowflake's lives, again, and it's the least we could do."

Yang was too tired and hurt too much to argue, so she walked over to the couch and sat down. "It is pretty soft…"

Weiss went into her bedroom and grabbed some extra blankets and a pillow, and when she walked back out, Yang was leaning back and fast asleep; lightly snoring.

" _She looks so cute when she's sleeping…"_

Weiss blushed for some odd reason before gently leaning the blonde over and covering her with a soft blanket.

" _Sleep well, my hero…"_

* * *

"RUBY!"

Weiss jolted awake and hopped out of bed; noting the yell had come from the living room.

"Who's Ruby, Yangy?" Weiss was in the hallway leading towards the living room and recognized Snowflakes voice.

"Oh sorry Little White; I didn't mean to wake you up."

"That's okay Yang." Weiss could see Snow hop up onto the couch and sit next to Yang. Neither of them had noticed Weiss yet. "You okay? You look sad. And your face got some boo boos still…"

Snowflake reached up and gently touched Yang's face. Yang winces slightly, but smiles all the same. "Thanks Snowflake. You're so sweet and caring...you remind me of my sister." Snowflake perked up at that, but her face got serious.

"Is Ruby your sister?" She asked.

Yang nodded. "Yeah...she was. I was having a bad dream about her. Well...what happened to her I should say."

Weiss suddenly felt bad for eavesdropping, but her curiosity got the better of her so she stayed where she was; listening intently.

Snowflake hopped up onto the couch and hugged Yang really tight. "I am sorry...she sounds cool. I like her name a lot. It's beautiful."

Yang laughed, but it almost came out as crying. _"God….this kid is the sweetest thing...why does she have to be so stinkin nice?!"_ "She was cool, that's for sure. Sadly she died when I was little. I dream good things about her sometimes, but mostly it's the sadder stuff I dream."

Snowflake looked up at Yang, her white hair in her face. "You are the best and I wish you dreamed good things all the time."

Yang brushed the hair out of Snow's face. "Wanna know a secret?" Snowflake nodded her head, her eyes wide. "Ruby is the one who gave me the fire powers I told you about."

Snowflake hopped up and down, the intense and sad vibes from earlier completely forgotten. "I told Mommy about that! I tried to tell her about your magic powers but she doesn't believe me!"

Weiss smiled. Snowflake did try and tell her that Yang had magic powers. Yang was so nice to make up a fun story for her daughter...

Yang laughed and lightly pushed on Snow's shoulder. "Snowyyy you're killin me! You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!"

Snowflake shrugged. "Oopsy daisy."

"Hey, you better get back to bed or your mom is gunna kill me for keeping you up all night!" Yang said.

Snowflake gave Yang a long hug. "Can we play again soon?"

Yang laughed. "Sure thing Little White."

Weiss silently went back to bed; neither Yang nor Snowflake knowing she was there.

* * *

Weiss yawns and blearily opens her eyes. " _Another long day ahead…"_ It was then that she heard sounds coming from the kitchen. Walking down the hallway in her nightgown, Weiss noticed laughing. Lots and lots of laughing. That, and what sounded like something cooking. It was then that the smell of breakfast food hit her nostrils; making her mouth water. Bacon, pancakes and eggs, from the smell of it. Rounding the corner into the living room and kitchen, Weiss saw Snowflake happily munching on pancakes that had _way_ too much syrup on them. Snowflake was laughing at something Yang said.

It was then that it hit the lawyer like a ton of bricks. _"Shit! Yang! I totally forgot that she stayed over!"_ Weiss looked down at her nightgown and blushed. Of course, as if the universe loves to punish her, Snow noticed her.

"Oh hey Mommy! Look what Yangy made!" Her hair was brushed and neatly braided, and while still in her pajamas, Snowflake looked wide awake.

"Oh hi Weiss. Hope you don't mind that I made breakfast from stuff in your fridge. Snowflake was apparently "Really hungry and would die if she didn't get some food right away!"" The last bit Yang said directed at Snowflake, and she giggled.

"Sleeping makes my tummy hungry!"

Yang chuckles and looks up at Weiss, her lilac eyes never looking more beautiful. "I debated making some breakfast for you; but wasn't sure if you wanted food or..?" Her eyes were kind but questioning, and Weiss gave up. She normally doesn't even eat breakfast, and if she does it's definitely not bacon and pancakes, but to hell with it. Breakfast looked delicious.

"First, thanks so much for making breakfast; you didn't have to. Second. Sign me up! Let me get changed and then I will definitely want food." Weiss smiled at Yang. The firefighter never ceased to amaze her, and show different sides to her that the woman couldn't help but say that she was starting to really like the blonde.

"Sure thing Weiss! Better hurry up before this black hole over here eats everything before you get back!" Yang said, poking Snowflake in the shoulder. Giggling, Snow just shoved more pancakes into her mouth.

"Chew!" Both Yang and Weiss exclaimed.

* * *

After quickly getting changed, Weiss headed back into the kitchen to see a plate full of food waiting for her- but with no sign of Yang. Next to the plate was a note, and as Weiss was picking it up, Snowflake came out of the bathroom; just changing out of her pajamas.

"Yeah. Yangy had to go to work...but she said that she probably would play some other time!"

Looking down at the note, Weiss smiled. _"Just repaying the favor ;) Take care of yourself and Snowflake. By the way, you raised a really awesome daughter. -Yang"_

* * *

A couple days pass. Work for Yang is normal, and while it's still as dangerous as ever; Yang takes significantly less risks than she usually does. Every time she is about to run into a house on fire; she thinks of Weiss and Snowflake, and how she wouldn't see them again if something bad happened to her.

Pyrrha comments on this new behavior and mentions it at dinner. "So...what's got you so in love with life lately?"

Nora chuckles. "Yeah, you actually are following orders now! What happened to the old reckless Yang?!"

Yang smiles. "Some things in life might actually work out for once...we'll see." She turns back to her food, the rest of her unit sharing looks. All in all, Yang seems a little happier than she normally does.

* * *

A silver-haired young man opened the door to the office (If you could call it that, it was a walled off room in the back of a huge warehouse) and sighed.

"I told you, that I didn't want to be disturbed." A seductive but harsh and cold voice all at the same time said.

He shrugged. "Boss dude said it was important. That the fire worked out perfectly. The client is dead or whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. Said to tell you right away." Most people might end up slightly disfigured if they interrupted the master boss lady, but eh. He couldn't be driven to care. They were all bad anyways; just some more bad than others.

"Is that it?" She asked.

He paused, not sure how well she would take the news... "Well, Emerald and I set the fire at the Schnee's apartment, but that firefighter was there. The one who saved them in the other fire. And she put out our fire somehow. She did this" He lifted his left leg, his ankle in a cast. "to me and nearly got Emerald real good too. We barely escaped before the police caught us."

"That is...unfortunate...next time, when you are given a mission, I fully expect you to follow through with it. You can go. Close the door out on your way, Mercury."

Mercury nodded. "Sure thing, Cinder."

* * *

 **A/N: Well...I'm not dead? Yay? I finally started back on this story and I'm sorry for the wait! It's been a while since I've written anything so let me know what you think of it! Thanks guys if you're reading this; I'm sorry it's been so long. You all are the best!**

 **Peace! Jackie out!**


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